Training a Shinobi of the Leaf
by Nee339
Summary: What set of circumstances would cause Umino Iruka to finally teach Naruto the shinobi arts from the very beginning? Warnings: Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations. No pairings.
1. Chapter 1: The Question

**Training a Shinobi of the Leaf**  
by Nee339

**Summary:** What set of circumstances would cause Umino Iruka to finally teach Naruto the shinobi arts from the very beginning?

**Warnings:** Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations. No pairings.

**Author's Notes: **Please let me know what you think. Thank you for reading.

**Last Edited: **July 11, 2012.

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**Chapter 1: The Question**

Six months ago, 17-year-old Chuunin, Umino Iruka, happened across a training session of a Genin team. Curious to see the level of proficiency exhibited by the younger shinobi generation, he decided to stop and watch the Genins' practice for a while. He had not intended to stay for very long, because he had expected to witness a group of serious young adults endeavoring to prepare themselves for the future hardships of the shinobi lifestyle. However, Iruka found his expectations did not match reality. The Genin did not act like young adults at all, but like ignorant civilian children.

Incredulously, Iruka sat in a tree and watched the Genins' training with their Jounin sensei. Iruka marveled at how the children did not seem to understand the significance of the art in which they practiced. The children were laughing while they trained, as if the multiple ways to incapacitate an enemy were some grand joke.

One boy, who was about 12 years old, was bent over laughing as his female teammate, who also was around the same age, tied up their third male team member. Once the young man was secured to their satisfaction, the children hailed the Jounin-sensei over to inspect the integrity of their attempt, all the while they were laughing like mental patients.

In bizarre fascination, Iruka listened to the lesson as the Jounin proceeded to instruct the bound boy in the different ways to contort his body in order to wiggle out of the ropes. The Jounin even told the boy to be prepared to forcefully dislocate any of his joints in the effort to get out, because in a true-life-situation being captured was unacceptable – escape or death, were their only options.

The Jounin continued with his lesson by telling the children of a few easy ways to commit suicide, should escape truly be impossible. And the boys laughed and taunted each other about who would be the first to resort to killing himself. The taunts flew back and forth while the girl giggled at the responses and the Jounin watched as his team's training session disintegrated into roughhousing and finally, to playful bondage; only this time, the other boy ended up bound in ropes. Unfortunately for the Jounin, throughout the rest of the team's practice time together, he was constantly forced to redirect the Genins' playfulness back to actual training.

Iruka quietly watched everything from the concealment of his tree. He was struck dumb by the Genins' inappropriate and unrelenting laughter as they playfully practiced the very techniques that Iruka had seen used numerous times before with deadly efficiency. Despite the fact that he was disgusted by the children's refusal to take the skills they were learning seriously, Iruka never left his tree. He continued to watch the Genin and the Jounin sensei until the end of the training session.

As the Jounin dealt with his students, Iruka found himself wondering if he had ever been so playful when he had been a new Genin or even as an Academy Student. Iruka tried to remember, but he found most of his memories fuzzy and surreal. His most recent memories were of times full of exhausted terror, with the faces of his allies constantly changing from one mission to the next. However, those were not the memories he wanted and he struggled to remember further back, to when he had been a small child and his family had been alive, back to when he had been the unremarkable second-son of two unremarkable Chuunin shinobi.

Years ago, before the Kyuubi attacked, all of his family's spare time had been devoted to training. Iruka's days were comprised of lessons at the Academy and, in the afternoons, practice held in the backyard of their small two-bedroom home. At night, when they were too tired to continue training, their conversations revolved around past missions and shinobi anecdotes. They spoke of foreign and domestic shinobi that they admired, and confessed their desires to have a doujutsu or some special bloodline ability. They discussed techniques they planned on learning and teachers they were going to approach for further instruction. And they whispered their fears of crippling and debilitating injuries that would force them to permanently drop from active duty.

Iruka never resented his parents for how he had been forced to spend his childhood, because the shinobi lifestyle was all his parents had ever known and all they could ever offer him. Besides, the common belief among shinboi parents was that the more the children trained in the ninja arts, the better their chances were of surviving when they became Genin. Because of that belief, Iruka could not remember ever having any unstructured time allotted for superfluous activities. Every spare bit of time was used for preparing him and his brother for the violence that would dominate their later years.

As a consequence of all that training and mental conditioning, Iruka had never pictured himself as anything else but a shinobi. He had been born to be a ninja and his best memories of his family revolved around the backyard of his childhood home, while one or both of his parents strove to teach him and his brother. It was in that backyard that most of the memories of his family played out. It was also the one aspect of the old house that he remembered best.

Iruka smiled sadly to himself as he remembered his brother performing advanced tricks while throwing shuriken and kunai, early morning taijutsu workouts with his father, and chakra control exercises with his mother. The more Iruka contemplated his childhood, the more he agreed with his original assessment of himself. He had known the truth of what it actually meant to become a shinobi long before he had ever received his hitai-ite.

Iruka had been born to the life of a shinboi, and had been prepared for it, so when they had received word of his mother's death, he had not been surprised. His mother had been killed in action along the border to Earth Country, during a routine scouting mission. No other information was ever shared concerning her death. He had been 8 years old at the time and his brother had been 11.

Two years later, the Kyuubi came.

During the Kyuubi's attack, both his father and his brother were killed. Again, Iruka never learned the particulars of how or why they died, and their bodies were never found. They just never made it back from the combat zone.

The only information available about his family, during the attack, concerned his brother's Genin team. Apparently, his brother's team was responsible for delivering medical supplies and soldier pills to the all of the shinobi involved in direct combat. They also had the secondary responsibility of removing the wounded from the battlefield and delivering them to one of the many medic tents. Nothing else was known about what happened. The Genin team just disappeared during one of their forays to the front.

Like hundreds of other people, the Kyuubi had been the end of his family.

After the attack, there was a severe shortage of shinobi. In a desperate attempt to maintain appearances of strength, the Hokage was forced to accelerate the education of hundreds of children already enrolled in the Academy. It also became common knowledge that if you were an orphan and younger than 20 years old, you were immediately drafted into the Academy's Genin Preparation Program, also known as GPP.

Two months after the attack, when Iruka was 10 years and 8 months old, he was promoted to Genin and assigned to his first team. His grace period, as a new Genin, did not last long. After a month of basic training and D ranked missions, his Genin team accepted their first C ranked mission. Two months after his graduation, from the Academy, they started taking B ranked missions.

It was on their second B ranked mission that Iruka's first teammate was killed. She had been only 9 years old. For a while, the third person on their team was rotated from one Genin to the next until the death of his second teammate. The boy had died just shy of their six-month-anniversary of when they graduated from the Academy. At the time of his death, the boy had been 13 years old, two months away from his 14th birthday.

As a consequence of the death of both his teammates, his Jounin sensei was removed from the responsibility of leading a Genin team. Umino Iruka then became an extra Genin and was used to patch the holes in other teams' rosters. Without a direct and constant superior, no one was there to break Iruka's continuous rotation from one team to the next, and he continued in this cycle for five years.

No, Iruka grimly decided, he had never been so playful or so seemingly innocent as those three children down below, with their protective Jounin sensei. Instead he had been forced into adulthood long before his body was halfway grown.

Iruka sat in his tree and bitterly watched the training session, and contemplated the three Genins' future and his past, while feeling offended by their obvious happiness. Didn't they understand? Didn't they see the meaning of what they were being taught? Didn't they see what was going to happen to them if they didn't start paying attention? They must not, because they kept right on playing and ignoring their Jounin as he tried to teach them. Finally, the children were released for the day, and Iruka was relieved from his memories.

The Jounin did not leave immediately after his students had disappeared down the path towards the village. Instead, as soon as the Genin were out of site, the Jounin looked up at the tree in which Iruka was hiding and called him down.

Iruka calmly jumped down from the tree and landed lightly in front of other shinobi. He had not been surprised that the Jounin sensei had known about his hiding place. In truth, he would have been disappointed in the older man if any evidence had proved otherwise.

"Is there something you need, Chuunin?" the Jounin asked once Iruka had stopped adjusting his clothing.

Iruka shook his head in the negative and said, "No, I was just watching."

Iruka's answer caused the Jounin to relax his body, so that he was leaning his right shoulder against the trunk of a nearby tree. The Jounin then began to examine the state of his fingernails on both hands. After his inspection, the Jounin started to clean his nails with a four-inch-long needle.

Since the Jounin did not seem as though he was in a hurry to leave, Iruka relaxed a bit, himself. After a second of watching the Jounin clean his fingernails, Iruka found the nerve to ask the older man, "Did they even understand what you were teaching them?"

Confused as to the reason of the question, the Jounin drew his black eyebrows together and shifted his dark eyes over to observe the young Chuunin standing tensely beside him. He noticed that the Chuunin looked tired, his clothes torn and dusty, as though he had just returned from some assignment or other. Interested now in the Chuunin's story, the Jounin asked in return, "What are you talking about?"

Iruka shifted his weight and avoided eye contact by looking out over the empty training field. He said again, with uncomfortable bitterness liberally lacing his voice, "Your students, the Genin, they seemed so happy. Did they even understand what you were trying to teach them?"

The Jounin smiled slightly, just enough to stretch his lips into the faintest of grins, and said, "Oh, they understood, at least, academically."

Iruka frowned and questioned, "What?"

The Jounin then fully smiled at Iruka, displaying a gap in his front teeth before explaining, "You're right that my Genin don't understand the true importance of capturing an enemy or being captured by one. I can lecture them until I am blue in the face, about every dirty trick I know, but they still won't hear what I am actually trying to tell them. All they will hear are the words coming out of my mouth. That second meaning that warning they aren't picking up on but you hear loud and clear, well that only comes with experience, and those three idiots are as green as late spring grass."

The Jounin gingerly dragged the needle under the nail of his middle finger on his left had, successfully removing a bit of dirt. His deep voice rumbled in patient amusement as he continued speaking, "Those kids treated the lesson like a game, and for the next couple days to weeks, they are going to be hunting each other and finding opportunities to tie each other up, especially the boys. Nevertheless, the severity of what I was teaching them probably won't sink in until they actually encounter a situation in which they need those survival skills. For now, it will be a game and they will unintentionally practice their skills because to them, it's fun."

Iruka frowned, irritated by the Jounin's blasé attitude about the ignorance of his Genin students. His annoyance got the best of him when he blurted, "But that's not good enough. It's not a game, it's real life."

The Jounin grimly smiled and nodded that he agreed, before he tolerantly observed, "You're a Kyuubi graduate, aren't you."

Familiar with the term, Iruka nodded that 'yes,' he was one of the many children who had their education rushed in an effort to fill the slots left behind by the dead, the crippled, and the critically injured due to the Kyuubi's attack.

"I thought so," the Jounin said in response to Iruka's nonverbal answer. "First off, not everyone gets promoted to active duty before they are ready, and those kids were ready to become Genin when they graduated. Second off, seven years is a long time in the life of a hidden village, and things change. Now my Genin have been Genin for the last three months, and they haven't seen the outside of the village during active duty yet. In fact, I don't plan on letting them outside this village until the girl manages to finally take down one of the boys in practice, and whether or not that's next week or a few months from now, nothing changes for them until then."

Iruka shifted to look at the Jounin in confusion and asked, "Why?"

"Because I said so," the Jounin immediately replied. A thoughtful silence momentarily fell over the Jounin as he switched the needle from his right hand to his left and started to clean those nails, as well.

Deciding to be a little more insightful in order to continue the conversation, the Jounin added another observation. He said, "Besides, knocking one of those boys on his ass will be both good for her and good for him. It'll be like a right of passage for her. The academy was too easy for her, and graduating wasn't such a big accomplishment in her mind. The boys are loud, and aggressive, and she's a bit intimidated by their craziness, which definitely isn't good for the team. Anyway, when she finally takes one of those loudmouths out, she'll start to get their attention. Their teamwork will start to come together, and she'll become more of an active participant on the team, instead of just someone the boys automatically leave behind in their mad rush forward. The boys will then learn that, although she is different and forced to fight differently because of her disparities in strength and speed, she is still a contender and that she is useful if given the chance to contribute."

Iruka snorted cynically at the Jounin's assessment and said, "That's a lot to have happen just because some little girl finally decided to defend herself."

"Maybe, then again, maybe not. In any case, I definitely need her to become more confident in herself and in her training, because there are people out there that are ten times worse then a couple of boneheaded, adolescent males."

Iruka snorted and emphatically acknowledged, "Isn't that the truth!" The Jounin raised his eyes from his nails and looked at the Chuunin again. Their eyes connected and they shared a bleak smile reserved for the cruel memories of past experiences.

In an effort to lighten the mood, Iruka asked tauntingly, "How do you know she'll be useful?"

The Jounin huffed a laugh, before answering, "I don't know – I hope. Besides, I read her file and I tested her myself. As of right now, she's a typical female academy graduate. She's proficient in taijutsu and genjutsu. Most ninjutsu are beyond her chakra capacity, but I plan to build her up so that by the time of the team's first C rank mission, she'll know at least one major offensive technique. Hopefully, I'll be able to round her out before then, so that she'll be fairly versatile when the time comes. The entire process is called 'Aging the Genin.' Every new Genin goes through it, just some teams mesh faster than others."

The Jounin stopped cleaning his nails and put the needle away in a pouch on his service belt. Curiosity seeped into his manner and he asked, "How long did you have to get acclimated to your team before you guys started taking real missions? A couple days, weeks?"

"Twenty-seven days. I had twenty-seven fucking days."

"Shit."

"Yeah, 'shit' is right," Iruka said angrily, and he scowled down at the summer's crispy-brown grass.

"What happened?"

Iruka sighed and released his hold on most of his anger. Now, he just felt sad and he said, "We weren't ready, but they had no one else. Kids were just dropping so fast that, at one point after the attack, the estimated Genin survival rate was one in ten. None of the Genin teams ever stayed together long. Personally, I had about fourteen or so Jounin-senseis when I was a Genin. I had to take the Chuunin exams twice before I finally passed when I was 16."

The Jounin nodded in sympathy before he asked, "That's not that long ago, is it?"

Iruka shook his head in the negative and said, "No, just a little over a year, now. Sir, how do you stand it?"

"Stand what, Chuunin?"

"The Genin. How do you deal with their constant puppyish stupidity?"

The Jounin laughed again. He wryly eyed Iruka as he explained, "I've been a shinobi a long time and I've been a Jounin for more than half of it. The Genin team you saw me with will be my third batch of students during my career, and frankly, they're a relief from everyday shinobi life."

Iruka shook his head again and said, "I'm sorry sir, but I can't see that. I think I would be more a nervous wreck with always having to watch over them then if I just worked with Chuunins and up."

"In a way, you're right. Those kids will surely put you through the ringer if you are always trying to guard them, but the true test of an effective Jounin-sensei is not doing just that very thing. Part of becoming a true shinobi is fucking up and getting hurt. They need to learn how to deal with their mistakes, the pain of the consequences, and move past it. Now, during practice, they feel safe and know that they can always call an end to a spar if they hurt themselves, but it's out in the field that Genin grow the most. The trick is training their bodies enough beforehand so that they survive their first critical injury, and training their minds enough so they don't shut down when they're hurt and scared. If there's another way to go about turning Genin into Chuunin, no one has ever showed it to me. Besides, look at yourself. By your own admission, you didn't have a regular Jounin mentor, but you survived, improved, and eventually got yourself promoted. That's nothing to sneeze at Chuunin."

Iruka snorted sardonically and mockingly said, "Yeah, I should be real proud. I'm positively the next Hatake Kakashi or Uchiha Itachi."

The Jounin steadily watched the Chuunin as the younger man agitatedly sat down against the base of the tree the Jounin was already leaning against. When the Chuunin appeared to have settled and was ready to hear what he had to say, the Jounin said, "Chuunin, don't go selling yourself short of your due credit. Getting yourself promoted is something to be proud of and I'm serious about that. Besides, don't go comparing yourself to Hatake and Uchiha Itachi. They have their own problems."

Iruka made another sound of disbelief and viciously began picking the brown grass and putting it in a pile between his legs.

The Jounin decided to explain further. "I've worked with Hatake, and a more effective shinobi you'll probably never find, but that man has never once removed his mask during the entire time I've known him. I have no idea what his face looks like. I can guess and probably be pretty accurate, but I won't ever know unless he shows me or if I rip that mask off his face. I asked him once about it, and he told me it's because he's punishing himself. For what, though, your guess is as good as mine."

"As for the Uchiha, Chuunin, well enough said really. That boy's had a heap of things against him from the very beginning of his career. First, the Kyuubi attack created a vacuum within the ranks, and he was one of the many children sucked into it. Second, his damn clan doujutsu activated early because of his early promotion to Genin so that set him up for further promotions before he was mentally ready for them. Third, he unfortunately has a highly political clan behind him who are using him to vie for importance within the village. That family believes they found their promised child and that hailing him as a prodigy will give the clan more political status, but all it really does is put a big fucking target on that boy's back. Not to mention the fact that this kid is 12 years old and going through puberty, he is as stressed as can be, and now he's running difficult missions with no real support system at home. All the while that family keeps pushing him and pushing him to be better, but nothing ever seems to be enough for those people. And, mark my words that boy's going to snap. The only thing in doubt is who his target's going to be."

Surprised by the level of insider knowledge about the two renowned prodigies, Iruka was momentarily lost for words. The Jounin just smiled his easy, gap-toothed smile again and patiently waited for whatever Iruka was going to say next.

"How do you know all that and why are you telling me?" Iruka asked a moment later.

"Well, I've been a shinobi for a long time, as I said, and I know the look of a young man searching for reasons to continue on as he is. I told you about Hatake and the Uchiha because those seem to be the two people you judge yourself by, and if I do say so myself, you appear to be quite hard on yourself too."

Iruka shook his head, refuting the Jounin's claim. "I'm not hard on myself, just realistic. I'll never compare to them."

"Well, who asked you to?" the Jounin asked as he stepped away from the tree and spread his arms wide, as if encompassing the entire population of Konoha.

"No one, but it's still true."

"So what! If the Hatake and the Uchiha are so great, then why do you still have a job?" The Jounin asked, beginning to sound exasperated.

"What are you talking about?"

"Just this, no matter how wonderful Hatake and the Uchiha are they are still only two men out of the entirety of Konoha's shinobi force. If there was a war tomorrow, Konoha will need the help from every last person in this village, no matter how gifted or how trained, because there are a thousand things that need to be done and someone has to do them."

Iruka scowled at the Jounin and said, "I know that, but – "

The Jounin angrily waved the Chuunin to silence and said, "Everyone fulfills his or her part. The farmers feed us, the weavers clothe us, the armories arm us, and the teachers teach us. All that shinobi are is a mobile fighting force that the village hires out to the highest bidder. Shinobi bring in the money and with the money comes political power that we use to purchase favor in the Fire Daimyou's court. It's a perpetual cycle. You do not have to become a shinobi figurehead like Hatake Kakashi to be considered a successful and useful ninja. All you have to do is complete your missions and get paid for your services. Anything else is purely extra. Hatake and the Uchiha cannot accomplish great things without Konoha's backup forces."

As Iruka sat silently thinking about what the Jounin had said, the Jounin took the opportunity to squat down beside him. Iruka finally said, "That's not very flattering to think of myself as nothing more then a mercenary."

The Jounin rolled his eyes and said, "Well no matter what you call yourself, shinobi or mercenary, that is what you are and what you have always been. Shinobi are not heroes; we do not save anybody unless paid to do so. It is true that some of us have made names for ourselves amongst the shinobi community, but not many."

It was silent between the two men until the Jounin sighed and reluctantly said, "Look, a big part of my job is helping the young people figure out if they're lifers or if they're retirees before that decision is taken away from them by injury or death. Despite all this talk about Hatake and the Uchiha, I can see that, young as you are, you're now facing the question of going or staying."

Iruka shook his head and said, "I'm at no such decision. I have always been a shinobi and I'm too old to learn anything else." When Iruka had finished speaking, the Jounin broke into great big gulping guffaws.

Embarrassed now, Iruka dropped his eyes to the ground, stood up, and started to walk away while the Jounin laughed. Before he could cross the training field to the other side, the Jounin called to him, "Hey now, don't leave. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, it's just that I see you're in trouble, and I'm just speaking like it is."

Iruka turned and walked back over to Jounin; however, he did not retake his seat in the grass but remained standing.

Amusement still thick in his voice, the Jounin said, "First, you're what 17, 18 years old? You aren't too old for anything. Hell, I'm not too old for a complete career change and I'm more than twice your age and if I could do it, so can you. Now the second thing is this, there's no shame in deciding not to be a shinobi anymore. Fuck, you know the life, you know what it's like, and I can assure you there's definitely more to the world than just killing people."

At seeing Iruka's unconvinced expression, the Jounin decided to make a comparison. He said, "How about this, your idol, Hatake will never quit being a shinobi because he simply can't see himself as anything other than a shinobi."

"He's not my idol," Iruka snapped, annoyed.

The Jounin just smiled and continued, "As for the Uchiha, if his family ever left him alone, I believe young Itachi would gladly quit the shinobi life and leave his controlling family far behind. He'd probably take that big brain of his and start some charity business, and in the process, save the world or some such fucking thing. But for you, I think you're a bit more like Hatake in the way you can't seem to think beyond a being a shinobi for the rest of your life. Hatake deals with his problem by just not thinking about it. You deal with your problem by sitting up in a tree and watching a Genin team practice."

Iruka growled at the Jounin, feeling as if he was being insulted. The Jounin put his hands up in the air to show that he had meant no harm by his observation, and he continued talking. "Look, I'll make it simple, all right. You've told me you had a rough go of it, and that's pretty typical seeing as most of the shinobi class in Konoha is made up of Kyuubi survivors. Whatever the cause, you got a raw deal and because of that it sounds like you didn't get your chance to mature into your shinobi duties and instead had them thrust upon you, and that sucks. I admit it."

Iruka momentarily stopped focusing on his anger and turned back to regard the Jounin, warily. He didn't know if he wanted to continue talking with the Jounin any more, but he decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt. After all, if he didn't like what he heard, he shouldn't have left himself open for such observations.

Resignedly, Iruka sighed and prompted, "Fine then. How are you going to help me?"

"Simple, I'm not."

"Good. Then are we done?"

"Just a bit ago, you were watching my kids as they practiced and I could feel your irritation that they were having a good time together while they learned some techniques. Either you saw those techniques effectively used in an actual combat situation and it's stuck in your head, never to come out again, or you were never taught them in the first place and you had yourself a moment when that bit of knowledge could have saved you quite a bit of skin. Am I right?"

Iruka nodded and answered softly, mournfully, "One of my teammates got caught in a wire trap and was torn to pieces."

The Jounin was quiet for a second, allowing Iruka his moment of remembrance for a fallen teammate. Once he was sure that Iruka was no longer mentally watching his teammate being brutally dismembered, he observed, "At the moment, I would wager your head's a bit screwed-up with bad memories. My grand advice to you is real simple. I believe you need a break from active duty, at least for a little while."

Iruka's face twisted in indignation and he protested, "I do not need a break. I am perfectly fine."

"Fine then, no more hiding in trees and being mad about children acting their age!" the Jounin snapped. The older man's momentary flash of anger cowed Iruka enough for the man to continue with his point. He said, "I think you've finally hit a wall in your career. Now either you continue on as you are, get promoted again, and eventually die on some mission, or you take a break for a while and enjoy what the sacrifices of your childhood won this village. Take the time to eat bad food and get laid. Maybe even think about retiring, getting married, producing babies – something. Maybe, you should think of teaching."

"What? Teaching? That's stupid. I don't have the patience for training brats, and for me to get a Genin team I have to get promoted to Jounin and most slots are reserved for prodigies, people with bloodlines, or people from powerful clans. The best I could do would be Tokubetsu Jounin, but …"

"Stop talking about what you can't do. I never said anything about becoming Jounin. All I said was maybe become a teacher."

The Jounin sighed and removed his forehead protector and then scrubbed a callused hand through his peppered black hair. Iruka was marginally surprised to see that the Jounin actually was concerned about him, a complete stranger.

A second later, the Jounin spoke again. He said, "Look kid, if you are anything like most shinobi, you started your training young, maybe you even went through the Academy, but in general, your whole life has been dedicated to this one career path. This is probably your first time actually considering leaving, am I right?" Iruka nodded and the Jounin continued with his assessment of his character and future prospects. "Now it seems to me that you need a bit of a break, not a real break where you get away from the shinobi life completely, but a break where you just leave the overly dangerous stuff for a while."

"And how do you do that?" Iruka asked snidely. "You either a shinobi or you aren't. There isn't any partial leaving of anything. Besides, I can't believe I'm actually talking about this. I don't want to quit being a shinobi, it's all I've ever known, and in a year or two I'll make Tokubetsu Jounin and then a year or three after that, Jounin. I shouldn't stop now. If I was going to quit I should have done it when I was still a Genin."

The Jounin snorted derisively. "Please, Genin is the only paying job for children under 15 years old in this village, and you have 'orphan' stamped all over you. You became a shinobi because you had to. What I don't know is if you were an Academy student before the Kyuubi, or if you were one of the hundreds of children that became shinobi because the Hokage saw an opportunity and opened up the Academy to everyone. Either way, you survived. Now you have some money put away, you have a home somewhere, and the ratio of missions to active shinobi has finally started to equalize. This has probably been your first time to breathe without having to run out and accomplish another mission right after you finished your last, and it's probably the first time you felt comfortable enough with the state of the village to actually think about becoming something else. Now, whether or not you leave this lifestyle is up to you, but all I have to say in the matter is this: you spent most of your life acquiring the ninja skills that you have and it will be a waist to just become another shopkeeper without passing on what you know to the next generation. Yeah, those kids will irritate the fuck out of you, but when you get one kid that really excels then all the shit you put up with becomes worth it, at least for a moment."

Iruka didn't know what to say. He hadn't woken up that morning with the objective to quit being a shinobi nor had he even thought about using any of his vacation time, but there he was actively considering retiring. What concerned him the most, was that nowhere inside him did he feel quitting would be a bad idea. He knew he was smart enough to get a job as someone's apprentice or find work as a shopkeeper. The only thing he did feel was regret for all the people he lost during his career.

"Ah shit," Iruka mumbled to himself, his hands on his hips and his eyes on the ground. "I don't know what to do now. Either way I look at it, I don't see much of a benefit in whatever I decide to do. Most of my friends are dead; I have no girlfriend and wouldn't know what to do with one if I had. I don't know shit about teaching and I don't think I'd like it much, anyway."

"You won't know unless you try," the Jounin said compassionately.

"That's just it. I don't know if I want to put forth the effort to learn how to teach or to learn anything new. Mostly, I just want to be left alone, and I want to sleep."

The Jounin laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I know that feeling. Chuunin, take a week off and think. After that week, come back here and let me know what you've decided. If you decide to keep going as you are, then at least you got a week's rest out of it. If you decide to retire, then I know some old buddies that will accept a new apprentice if I give them the word. And if you decide to teach, I can write you a letter of recommendation so that you can start training to become a sensei for Konohagakue no Sato's Genin Preparation Program. It's up to you."

Stunned by the Jounin's generosity, Iruka just stared at the older man, before softly asking, "Why? Why would you do all that for me?"

The Jounin dispassionately shrugged his shoulders and answered, "Because I'd do it for any of my Genin students."

Even more confused than before, Iruka shook his head and said, "But you were never my sensei."

"That might be right, but you never had a real sensei to begin with. The Kyuubi fucked up a lot of things, and unfortunately, a lot of our young people were cheated out of proper training. Besides, you're about the age of my last batch of Genin. They were Kyuubi graduates too, and throughout that crazy time, I only lost one during a mission. Who knows, you might have filled her slot a time or two, and you just don't remember."

"Maybe," Iruka conceded, but was still mainly unconvinced.

"Anyway kid, my name's Itō Shiro. If you need me, I'm here everyday with the Genin from 1200 to 1600."

Iruka smiled and said, "My name's Umino Iruka."


	2. Chapter 2: The Decision

**Training a Shinobi of the Leaf**  
by Nee339

**Summary:** What set of circumstances would cause Umino Iruka to finally teach Naruto the shinobi arts from the very beginning?

**Warnings:** Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations. No pairings.

**A****uthor's Note:** In this chapter, I refer to a type of radio that I noticed was used in the manga; especially, when Naruto's Genin team is trying to catch Tora, the cat. Anyway, the manga never specified the name of their radio so I looked for a similar one in real life. If you are interested in having a picture of the field radio, please **_Google SWAT LASH Headsets for Two-Way Radios_** or check out the following website at ** www.** **/tactical/Lash/web_lash. html**. You will need to remove all the spaces in the website address, obviously, but you'll see what I am writing about then.

**Last Edited: **July 11, 2012.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Decision**

Before his family was killed, Umino Iruka had already known and accepted that he would never become a world-renowned-shinobi. He had understood that he would never receive that backhanded complement of being added to the enemies' Bingo Books, with strict orders, penned in red ink, to either kill him on sight or to run. He had always known that he would never receive the dubious honor of becoming the intended victim of an assignation squad. Not to mention, he would never become Hokage, and he most definitely would never spontaneously develop a long forgotten bloodline that would insure his dominance over all other shinobi within the village, if not the entire continent. In short, Umino Iruka would never become a legend and, after his death, he would not be remembered for long, because he was purely a mediocre, easily forgotten, young man who was living in a village of greats.

When Iruka was younger, he had resented his mediocrity. In an effort to prove that he was just as useful as the children with distinguished bloodlines, he had devised ruthless pranks to demonstrate, to anyone who paid attention, that these individuals weren't nearly as perfect as they claimed. They fell for the same, simple, stupid, schoolyard tricks that ensnared all the other children. They were not special and they were not geniuses. They were no better than over-bred dogs that, by some fluke of nature, ended up sporting various useful genetic mutations.

When his parents had been alive, they had encouraged his pranks, believing that he was laying the groundwork for becoming a Trap Specialist. Although his parents never outright condoned his pranks against the members of bloodline families, he had known that they had appreciated his work. He had seen the pride in their eyes when he regaled them with stories about his classmates being knocked unconscious and left strapped to trees. He had even overheard his parents quietly bragging and laughing about his accomplishments with their teammates, on the few nights that they had been invited over for dinner.

Iruka privately smiled to himself, as he remembered the sense of satisfaction he had felt when he saw his plans coming into fruition. However, those had been happier times and he had still been a child then. Now, setting traps and making plans was nothing more than business and the faster he herded the foreign and frightened shinobi to their deaths, the faster he could pick up his mission pay.

Movement out of the corner of his eye, disrupted Iruka's thoughts about his past, and refocused him on the present. Two days ago, he had chosen not to listen to Jounin Itō Shiro-san's advise about taking a vacation. Instead, he had gone to the Mission Office and requested an immediate, out-of-village, assignment and he got one – border patrol.

Within seconds, Iruka stood four yards away from a wagonload of wooden boxes and crates, pulled by two dark gray water buffalo with sawed-off horns. Two men, with dark hair and reddish skin, sat side-by-side on the wagon's driving bench, calmly talking to each other.

"I swear that someone's watching us," whispered the younger of the two men, as he deftly reined the animals away from the leafy foliage and urged them forward.

"What do you expect? We are in the Great Konoha Forest. The Hokage probably has spies in every other tree and I wouldn't be surprised if the trees themselves provided the Professor with Intel. Look at the size of these monsters."

Iruka quickly determined that these men were intruders, due to the simple fact that they were caught in the Kori Shinchuu genjutsu, which wouldn't have happened if the men had the correct documentation. The jutsu they were currently trapped in was also called 'Sly Mind Affect,' and it basically disoriented the target and caused them to travel in circles. It was a very tame border defense, and the two maybe-merchants were extremely lucky to have run into it and not one of the other numerous defensive traps along the border.

As Iruka listened to the two men talk to each other, he became more and more convinced that they weren't just ambitious merchants in search of a new market to peddle their goods, as their clothing had originally led him to believe. Instead, their conversation was too liberally sprinkled with military and shinobi slang to be entirely innocent. Furthermore, their ambiguity made Iruka nervous. If the men were more than trespassing merchants, and were scouts for an enemy of Konoha, then he had a problem – possibly a large problem.

His original orders had been very clear about what he was supposed to do while on border patrol. He was to observe the traffic on the highly trafficked trails through the forest; all the while, checking on the traps for possible intruders. He'd already sealed three dead bodies into storage scrolls for the Medic-nins to deal with, and it now looked like he would either be adding to that collection or bringing home live-ones for the Torture and Interrogation squads to play with. There were no exceptions, which meant that if those two men where instead a mother and her young son, they would still have to pay a visit to TAI.

_Well fuck,_ Iruka thought, frustrated, as he watched the men pass by him on their second cycle since he'd first found them trapped in the genjutsu.

Annoyed, Iruka brought his left hand up to his throat where he played with the two throat buds that were strapped around his neck and put pressure on his vocal cords. He debated whether or not to radio his teammates and explain his suspicions. Eventually, he decided that it would probably be for the best. He wasn't a hero, and he wasn't stupidly rash. If these two men turned out to be true shinobi, he would appreciate the backup when the time came.

Decided now, Iruka moved his hand from his throat to his chest where the radio activation button was hidden by a protective flap on his Chuunin flak vest. He pressed the button and then whispered, "There are two adult males with a wagon and two water buffalo, located five miles north of the city, Otafuku Gai, and they're caught in the Kori Shinchuu. They are dressed as merchants; however, there's evidence they may be enemy spies. Request further orders, over."

There was a hiss in his earpiece before the team leader asked, "Have you been discovered? Over."

"No, over."

"Maintain watch and reapply genjutsu if needed. Do not, I say again, do not confront targets. We are on our way. Radio again if there are any changes. Out." Iruka then removed his hand from the button on his vest and, as he settled his back against a tree's trunk, he mumbled to himself, "Yes sir."

During the time that it took for his team to arrive, the two outsiders circled the same batch of trees twelve more times. He also capitalized on the opportunity to painstakingly weave a genjutsu shield around his position that allowed him to blend in with the forest. It was a defensive measure he did not think was strictly necessary, but he needed the practice of working the jutsu and, since it was not particularly draining, he deemed its existence worth the chakra expenditure.

Twenty minutes after broadcasting his position and his request for help, his three border-patrol-teammates finally arrived. He was tempted to say something witty about how they all must be out of shape, considering how long it took them to get there, but he decided against it. He was not close with these people and making a joke at their expense, he felt, wouldn't be appreciated. Therefore, he kept his mouth shut and quickly stepped out from behind his genjutsu shield and greeted his team.

After taking a quick headcount, the team leader broke the silence and stated, "Alright, report."

Iruka shrugged and said, "Nothing's changed since I last spoke with you. They either don't know they're in a genjutsu or they do and they realize that, if they break out of it, they'll be attacked by us; so they are biding their time. Also, I've been listening in on them, and most of what they say has been fairly harmless, but, judging by their speech patterns and word choice, they're something other than merchants. I can't tell if they're overly informed civilians, undercover shinobi, or retired shinobi."

"What about their cargo?"

"There's been no movement amongst the packages and I've detected no further life signs beyond that of the men and the buffalo. It's your call, sir."

The team leader looked down at the two men walking in circles while he thought about the best way to handle the situation. He then turned his attention back to the team and said, "There's no option. Either way, they have to be stopped and questioned." The team leader then ordered Iruka to retake his position behind his genjutsu shield, while his remaining two teammates stood directly in the path of the oncoming wagon, waiting for the team leader to dismantle the genjutsu.

As soon as everyone was in their positions, the team leader's voice whispered in their ears, "Genjutsu drops in twenty seconds. Kaede, Takara, the countdown starts now. Over."

While Kaede and Takara voiced their understanding of the additional information, Iruka maintained his silence. The wagon had just passed his position again and, although the genjutsu warped the minds of the targets into believing that they were actually going somewhere, it did not alter sound. Quietly, Iruka shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, so that he was more evenly balanced, and started to count backwards from twenty.

When he reached fifteen, the team leader's voice again murmured in his ear, "Iruka, if they do not have identification papers, be ready to put them to sleep, over."

"Dead? Over."

"Negative! Non-lethal action only. Acknowledge, over."

"Affirmative, out."

At the end of their verbal exchange, four more seconds had passed. In a rush now, Iruka quickly took an out storage scroll from his flack vest and unwound it until he saw the correct seal array. He then viciously bit the side of his thumbnail, to make himself bleed, and swiped the red fluid over the meticulously rendered seals. He then placed the palm of his bleeding hand down over the array and channeled chakra into the scroll until he felt a wooden tube emerge underneath his hand.

While Iruka prepared his brown fukiya, blowgun, and fukibari, darts, the mind-altering genjutsu was dropped. The two men immediately noticed the change in their perceptions, and were finally able to recognize that something was wrong. They stopped the laboring buffalo, and the younger man jumped down from the cart and knelt down in the mud, examining the prominent wagon wheel ruts dug deep into the ground.

"What's going on?" the younger man asked as stood up, ignoring the wet, muddy, ovals over both his knees.

The older man hopped down from the cart and answered, "We're in shinobi country that's what."

"So," the younger man said, sounding a bit frightened, despite trying to mask his emotions behind insolence.

As the older man walked to stand in front of the buffalo, he spoke, over his shoulder, "We just woke from a shinobi spell. They did something to us and now it stopped. They're around here, somewhere, so keep a – oh fuck."

Iruka momentarily stopped preparing his weapon when he heard the older man curse. Lifting his head, he watched as Kaede and Takara started to walk forward from their position of standing in the middle of the road, roughly twenty feet in front of the wagon. Sensing the sudden rise in tension, the buffalo, lowed deep and clicking rumbles of displeasure.

"Where are your identification papers?" the kunoichi, Takara, asked as she stepped closer to the wagon team.

The younger man angrily stated, "What are you talking about? What papers? We have every right to travel this road –"

Iruka stopped listening to the ongoing conversation, knowing that the younger man had as good as admitted to not belonging in Konoha territory. Instead, he gingerly placed a fukibari, a two-inch-long dart, into the end of his blowgun and cautiously stepped outside his genjutsu shield. He soundlessly circled behind the two trespassers and took careful aim down the length of the tube. He breathed in deeply through his nose, held his breath for a second, aimed again, and then blew. He reloaded and blew again.

One. Two.

And just like that, both men were hit. The older man fell to his knees, with his left hand clamped to the back of his neck, only to loose the fight with gravity a second later. The second man made a grumbling noise in the back of his throat, before he too fell over, on to his side, and passed out.

Iruka frowned. It had been too easy. Maybe these men weren't enemy shinobi after all. They went down too quickly and they didn't offer any resistance beyond that of being a little mouthy. Iruka mentally shrugged. The orders had said no exceptions.

"Takara, Kaede, check the wagon. Iruka you're with me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. It's not like I got anything better to do, ya know, like …"

"Spare us, Kaede. Just do your job so we can leave," Takara snapped as she headed towards the back of the wagon so she could step up and start checking the contents of the cargo.

Kaede turned towards his female teammate and snarled. To add emphasis to his displeasure, Kaede rudely grabbed his genitals through the tough fabric of his blue pants and gave the handful a rough shake. Iruka privately thought that Kaede probably grabbed more fabric than he did flesh.

"Delightful Kaede. Now get your ass up here and help."

"Hey, stop fucking around and get to work. Iruka, over here, now."

Iruka didn't respond verbally to the team leader's orders, he just walked over towards him. The team leader was already bent over the sprawled form of the younger of the two trespassers. Quickly and efficiently, the team leader felt along the man's arms and down his torso and legs. He checked the man's clothing for secret pockets or any form of identification. Iruka followed his example.

"Do you want to cavity search them too or let the Med-nins deal with that?" Iruka asked as he too finished his preliminary search of the older man's clothing. All that was left to search were the body orifices, as he had mentioned.

"No, that won't be necessary at this time." The team leader said, as he expertly bound the man's limbs together with rope, before moving over to do the same to Iruka's unconscious man. Once done, the team leader turned towards the wagon, and looked up at his two teammates. "Did you find anything?"

"Not really. Lots of pipe-weed, liquor, blankets, herbal tea and a teapot," Kaede said as he held up the white-china teapot. "It's pretty though. My mother had one like it, before the Kyuubi. I think she kept the shards, you know, for remembrance."

Takara snorted, amused. She then said, "I didn't find much different. I found black calligraphy ink, calligraphy brushes, some paper, clothes, different types of smoking pipes, and more pipe-weed."

"Alright, come down. Kaede, help me move the bodies."

"Where to, a ditch?"

The team leader smiled and said, "No, to the back of the wagon."

Kaede dutifully walked towards the first man and grabbed him under the shoulders and around the chest. The team leader lifted the man's lower body, and together they walked him over to the back of the wagon and swung him on board. Iruka winced at the sound of the man's body hitting the hard wooden planks.

"You know, I don't think that guy is as out as he plays. I think he just felt up my junk," Kaede said as he walked with wide steps, while groping his crotch. Takara rolled her head back on her neck and laughed, while the team leader just shook his head and walked towards the remaining bound man.

"Kaede, his arms were tied behind his back. That's just were his arms hung when you pick him up like that," Takara said with a large and toothy smile. Kaede grinned back, delighted at the success of his joke.

"Thank you for explaining. I would have never known."

"Idiot."

"Whore."

As Kaede and the team leader picked up and tossed the other man into the back of the wagon, Iruka resealed his blowgun and extra darts. Once finished, he then walked over to the defensive seal array that powered the Kori Shinchuu genjutsu, and reactivated it.

"Well, the gear's packed. What's the next move?" Kaede asked as he swiped both hands over the coarse blue fabric of his Chuunin uniform pants.

"Takara and I are going to run ahead and inform TAI that our friendly merchants here are on the way. We will also give the Med-nins the bodies found in the traps, and then we'll start making our way back towards you two. That leaves you boys with the responsibility of taking care of the buffalo and the sleeping men until we return. And judging by the rate of travel those animals are capable of, I think we'll meet up with you before you are halfway to the village."

"Oh joy. I'm having flashbacks already," Kaede grumbled as he roughly patted a grayish black furred rump of the closest buffalo. The animal turned its ponderous head to regard the relatively small shinobi, and snorted a string of greasy snot from its nose.

"We'll meet up again in three hours. Iruka, make sure those two don't wake up before their arrival."

"Yes sir."

"Good, then Takara, lets go," commanded the team leader. He and the woman left, running chakra-fast through the trees.

After the departure of half of their team, Kaede and Iruka stood quietly staring at each other, both waiting for the other to assume command of the situation. Iruka shifted uncomfortably and vaguely gestured towards the wagon. He swallowed his discomfiture and said, "I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

Kaede nodded, and suddenly grinned. The expression immediately struck Iruka as false and only served to make him feel even more awkward with the other shinobi. Iruka sighed. He hated this feeling of self-conscious embarrassment. He took a breath and mentally told himself that he was a damn good shinobi, and Kaede was his teammate, temporary or not; therefore, there was no reason to continue to feel uncomfortable.

While Iruka had been mentally giving himself a pep-talk, Kaede had walked over to the driver's bench and turned back to regard the still silent shinobi. He continued to grin, bearing slightly crooked teeth, and he asked, "Do you know how to drive these things?"

Iruka shook his head and said, "No, I've been a shinobi my whole life. I've never dealt with farm animals before."

"Hhhhmmmm, well lucky us that I'm a country-boy. I can drive this wagon in my sleep. Climb on."

Iruka's eyebrows rose in surprise as he asked, "Really?"

"Yes sir. I probably would still be a farmer if I hadn't been pressed into service when I was 12," Kaede explained as he settled himself on the driver's bench and gathered up the animals' reins. Iruka climbed into the back of the wagon, carefully stepping over crates and the two unconscious bodies of the trespassers. Iruka sat a crate with a solid lid, his back resting against the side paneling of the wagon. In his hands, he delicately held two more treated fukibari. He did not think that the darts would be needed for some time, but he felt better knowing that they were immediately on-hand should the two men show any signs of wakefulness.

They had been traveling in silence for five minutes and Iruka had almost managed to put himself into a deep waking meditation, when Kaede abruptly asked, "Do you know any traveling songs?"

Iruka was momentarily startled at the unexpected interruption. After a second of consternation, Iruka turned his head to regard Kaede's back. As he studied Kaede, he was struck again by a sense of falseness in the man's voice and attitude. When Kaede had been bantering with Takara, earlier, his tonal inflections and expressions had matched, now they were forced and unnatural. Eventually, he answered Kaede's question that he didn't know any songs.

Kaede was undeterred, and within a few seconds had thought of another inane question to ask, in an obvious attempt to stave off uncomfortable silences. Normally, Iruka didn't mind silence, but with such a demandingly talkative companion, Iruka bowed to the inevitable and asked a question of his own. "So, when did you graduate the Academy?"

Kaede truly smiled at Iruka's question, happy that he was finally participating in their discussion. He answered, "Oh, I graduated when I was 13 almost 14."

"Didn't you say that you joined the Academy at 12?" At Kaede's affirming nod, Iruka continued with his observation. He said, "That was quick, then. You must have had some taijutsu experience before you went to the Academy."

Kaede shook his head and said, "No, not really. When I was a boy, I would wrestle with my brothers, from time to time, but I had no real experience before going into the Academy."

"What about chakra? I always heard that it's harder to use if you weren't trained from an early age," Iruka said, starting to actually become interested in their conversation.

Kaede laughed harshly at the idea and barked out, "What a load of shit! You can train anyone to do anything if given enough time; of course, I'm not including people with mental or physical handicaps, you understand." Kaede then slapped the reins on the backs of the buffalo, urging them to move faster.

Uncomfortable in the jostling wagon, Iruka shifted his position a few times. Finally giving up the search for comfort, he said, "I hate this wagon. Well, the stuff about chakra that's what my parents always told me when I asked them about all the training we did. They said that if you start training young, you would have a better and more intuitive grasp of chakra. Same thing went for taijutsu forms."

Kaede shrugged and looked back at Iruka and said, "Look, I'm no doctor or chakra expert, but when I went to the Academy, I was put into a class full of kids who were all about my age, and they all didn't know shit about chakra. And let me tell you something else, although we were all from the outlying villages and farms and that we were older than most students starting the Academy, every single one of us learned to manipulate chakra. We all learned the basic academy jutsus. Not to mention, I haven't heard a single complaint, from any of my past classmates, about not being able to do some technique because they didn't start using chakra young enough. Nah, I think that 'young-thing' is all a myth so that the Hokage can ensure the next generation of shinobi is brainwashed enough by the time of graduation that they can, and will, kill without any fuss."

"Maybe," Iruka consented, as he attempted to stretch out his legs. He could see the logic behind Kaede's statement and it could even be true. Who knew? He was just a shinobi and by no means a specialist in training techniques or chakra manipulations.

"So, what are you doing working border patrol as a free agent? Need the money or something?" Kaede asked, apparently dropping their previous topic in favor of a new one.

Iruka snorted and replied, "No, I just get bored easily and, when I'm working, no matter how bad the conditions are, I can't ever say I'm bored."

Kaede glanced back at Iruka, his dark eyebrows crinkled together quizzically. "Bored? How can you be bored in the village? Na, I'm the opposite. I get bored on missions."

Iruka shrugged and said, "I don't go out a lot and I prefer to be moving than sitting at home in my apartment."

Kaede shook his head, his shaggy black hair flopping over the tie that secured his forehead-protector. "Iruka-man, there are women in the village and a lot of them can't wait to spread their legs for a good shinobi. They like our muscles, ya known. I guess their village boys are a bit flabby, eh?"

Iruka smiled and said, "You do realize that most of those 'village boys' you are speaking of, are actually retired shinobi. There are very few pure citizens within the village and, those that are, mostly work the menial jobs that shinobi and retired shinobi don't want to do."

"Eh, whatever. Anyway, where's your team? You should make them take you out drinking. Did you know that there's legalized prostitution in Otafuku Gai?"

Iruka shuddered and said, "Prostitution is not my thing. I keep thinking about all the other dicks she's seen and sucked and fucked. It messes with my head and makes my skin crawl. No, if it's sex that I want, then I have to go about getting it the old fashioned way."

Kaede laughed, and teased him about his manliness. He said that he had the constitution of a woman and insinuated that Iruka was in fact a virgin. Iruka politely smiled while Kaede rattled on, before saying, "I'll have you know that I lost my virginity while you were still in the Academy learning how to properly work the Kawarimi no Jutsu."

Kaede's head snapped back to gape at Iruka in amazement and he gasped, "Shut the fuck up! Really? How?"

Iruka nonchalantly explained, "I was the youngest and smallest male on my Genin team, and our first C-ranked mission was trapping a boy-lover who was abducting young males, to have sex with them, between the ages of 10 and 13. He didn't kill them or hurt them or anything. He just seduced them into his home with props. Ya know, like toys, magazines, books, and that kind of stuff. Since there wasn't any real danger, they used me as bait for the trap. I lost my cherry as a result. They took pictures as evidence, and the man was later hung for his crime of having sex with a minor. Obviously, I was the golden witness."

Kaede was speechless for a time, before he said, "That's some twisted shit, Iruka." After a beat of silence, he then asked, "Was it good for you, at least?"

Iruka smiled at Kaede's reaction before pushing out his bottom lip and nodding thoughtfully. "Yeah, he was real gentle about it all. He had no clue I was an undercover ninja and neither did the courts. My Jounin-sensei played as my father with the rest of my Genin team as my siblings. We all had dark hair and eyes, so there was enough of a resemblance between the four of us to pull off the charade."

"Had?" Kaede stressed the word, questioningly.

Iruka nodded and spoke with no inflection in his voice, "Yeah, they've been dead for a long time."

Kaede asked in a surprised and compassionate voice, "Are you talking about your entire Genin team?"

Iruka nodded again and calmly said, "Yes."

Iruka still didn't know how to feel about the deaths of his Genin teammates. Their deaths had happened at the very beginning of his career and, as a result, Iruka hadn't had enough time to establish close personal bonds with either of them. Not to mention, their ages at the formation of their Genin team had been 9, 11, and 13, which wasn't conducive to any close team unity.

"Even your Jounin-sensei's dead?"

Iruka shrugged and said, "I don't think so, but he was reassigned when there was only me left."

With his dark brown eyebrows raised in incredulity, Kaede asked, "They reassigned your Jounin-sensei? How old where you?"

"I was 11-and-a-half."

"You were 11. You were still a fucking baby and they got rid of your sensei! How, the fuck, are you still alive?"

Iruka grinned and said, "Couldn't tell you. I haven't been a member of a stable team for about six years."

Kaede turned back around to watch the road and cursed before saying, "That's shit-luck, man. Although that stuff about not having a team can be fixed. There are lots of four-man-cells out there who have one or two men permanently down and need replacements. There are listings in the Mission Office, you know."

"I've been doing alright as I am. Besides, a Jounin told me, just two days ago, that I should become a teacher at the Academy. You know, brainwash a few brats and then set them loose and hope for the best."

Kaede instantly turned around and stared at Iruka for a moment. He then said, "A Jounin said that you would be a good teacher?" At Iruka's nod of confirmation, Kaede then exclaimed, "Then why the fuck are you out here?"

Taken aback at Kaede's tone of voice, Iruka shrugged guardedly and said, "Because I'm not sure I want to be a teacher."

"Are you an idiot?"

"No. What's your problem, Kaede?"

"Man, you have a way out of this fuck-all lifestyle, and you're just pissing it away."

"Fuck you! I am not," Iruka snapped, annoyed.

"Yeah you are."

"Fine then, how did you decide that? You don't know anything about me," Iruka affirmed, not expecting much of an answer beyond that of more cussing.

"I don't have to know you to recognize when you are doing something stupid," Kaede viciously growled.

"Why is being a normal shinboi stupid?"

Kaede wagged his finger angrily at Iruka and said, "You see – this is what I was talking about when I said the Hokage has kids brainwashed. You're a perfect example!"

"What are you –?"

Fiercely, Kaede cut off Iruka in the middle of his question and cried out, "For fuck's sake, Iruka, you were raped when you were 11 and you're talking like it's normal!"

"I wasn't raped –" Iruka protested and, before he could continue, Kaede cut him of again, emphatically stating, "Yes you where, and by a baby-raper at that. Just because you let your Jounin-sensei put you in that position does not make the fact that you where raped any less true."

At Iruka's confused and outraged expression, Kaede held up one hand with the fingers spread wide and began counting on them while he asked pointed questions in the hopes of making Iruka concede his point. "Did you think the rapist was physically attractive?"

"No, but –"

"Did you ever have any sexual thoughts before you found yourself in bed with a grown man who was asking you to accept his dick up your ass?"

"No."

"Have you had sex with another person since you were 11, outside of missions?"

"No."

With two fingers still standing straight, Kaede arched at eyebrow and asked, "Do I need to continue or do you see what I'm talking about?"

Iruka growled, "I get it. You can stop. You've made your point."

Kaede nodded and put his hand down. "I bet you have hundreds of stories like that one, don't you?"

"So does everyone!" Iruka snarled.

"Yeah, they do, but you have a way out and you are not capitalizing on it. Forgive me if guys like you piss me off. Do you like killing people?"

"What?" Iruka gasped, dazed by Kaede's sudden introduction of such a taboo subject. No one ever insinuated that another shinobi liked or disliked killing people. It was beyond rude, and it was on par with expressing your desire to have sex with an animal. The subject matter was to be left unspoken, and it was simply understood that death was a major part of a shinobi's life. Whether or not a shinobi enjoyed the experience wasn't anyone else's business.

"Because that's what it sounds like to me. That you are saying you prefer to slit people's throats for money than to accept a stable job, teaching children."

Incensed, Iruka lunged over the crates and grabbed Kaede's blue sleeve and pulled. Kaede immediately tried to defend himself by dropping the reins and bringing his other arm over to grip and restrain Iruka's right hand. Iruka compensated and wrapped his left arm around Kaede's neck, and pulled tight, choking him. Kaede gagged, and clawed at Iruka's arm, trying to pull it away from his throat, but Iruka easily slapped his hands away and applied more pressure until the man's back was bowed over the backrest.

Snarling in his ear, Iruka said, "There's no difference you fuck-wad! Instead of killing people myself, I would be teaching little children how to do it in my place. Either way, people will still be killed and money will still be paid for the mission. My hands won't be any cleaner in a classroom than out in the field, asshole." Iruka then released Kaede's throat and shoved him away from him. He retook his seat, in the back of the wagon, and checked to make sure that the two bound men were still unconscious. They were and Iruka marginally relaxed.

While rubbing his throat, Kaede picked up the fallen reins and sighed. "I fucking hate this," Kaede said softly. When there was no immediate response from Iruka, Kaede glanced back at the other shinobi, and continued, "Personally, I hate being a shinobi. I hate killing people. I hate that I am always hurting from some injury or other. I hate that sick feeling I get in my stomach when we are about to leave the village on a mission. I hate the baked in smells of sweat, and blood, and piss, and shit that I can't ever seem to get out of my clothes. I hate the …"

"Then quit," Iruka sneered, irritated by Kaede's complaints.

"I can't," Kaede snapped back. Before Iruka could say anything else spiteful and demeaning to him, Kaede continued, "My mother contracted me and my younger brother into service right after the Kyuubi attack. There's no quitting."

There was silence between the two men. For long minutes, all they heard were the sounds of the creaking of the wagon and the rumbling grunts of the buffalo, as they slowly made their way to Konoha. After a while, Kaede softly started speaking again. He said, "When the Kyuubi came, it flowed right through my family's farm and killed everything that it touched. Did you get to see it when it came to Konoha?"

Iruka immediately shook his head in the negative, but he did not instantly continue to explain himself. Iruka was still too angry with the other man. In an effort to compose himself, Iruka took a deep breath and released it. He repeated the breathing exercise until he felt slightly calmer.

"No, I never saw it, because, when the Kyuubi was spotted ten miles away from the village, the Yondaime Hokage sanctioned the immediate evacuation of all civilians. I was only an Academy student then; so, I was still considered a civilian, and was herded off to the caves with the others."

Kaede shuddered in remembrance and said, "Well I saw it and, six years later, I still have nightmares. When the old folks described it as a force of nature, they were right. It was massive, and it had this red chakra that constantly swirled around it. I never did see anything 'fox-like' about it. To me, it looked like a heavy, huge, thunderhead cloud that had come down from the sky to float inches over the earth. It was movement, and wind, and fire, and when it was gone, there was rain."

Iruka said, "No, I never saw the Kyuubi, but I can remember this overwhelming sense of panic in the people around me and me not knowing what was going on. I also remember that the eastern sky turned blood red and it was in the middle of the afternoon. I remember thinking that the red seemed to be eating up all the blue. After that, I remember the caves."

Kaede was silent, for a moment, thinking about the visual Iruka had shared. He then said, "Before the Kyuubi, my paternal grandparents, my parents, and my eight brothers and sisters, all lived and worked on our farm. After the Kyuubi, my father and my grandparents were dead, along with three of my sisters and one of my brothers. My mother couldn't feed the four of us that remained on a dead bean-crop, so when the Hokage sent out runners to collect children for shinobi training, my mother sold my younger brother and I into service. Because she was already giving up two male children, she managed to negotiate my older brother's release, so that he would live to inherit the farm and to take care of my only remaining sister. I haven't been back since."

Kaede's voice grew more angry than sad, as he continued talking. He said, "I never wanted to be a shinobi. I never wanted anything to do with that world of death, especially after the Kyuubi. Instead, I had been saving up for an apprenticeship as a horse trainer. I wanted to do something positive with my life, and I wanted a wife and children, and a family. You see, Iruka, I can't quit. My mother signed a contract that stipulates that she will receive a percentage of my mission pay until I turn 25. When I'm 25, the contract is completed and I'm free to go. I have five years left and …"

Iruka frowned and shook his head in denial. He said, "I never heard of such a thing. How can it be legal?"

Kaede huffed a laugh and bitterly said, "It's legal because the Hokage made it legal. And no one ever talks about the reasons why they became a shinobi, because, most of the time, their reasons aren't pretty. No one learns the death-trade for noble reasons, Iruka, no one; probably, not even you."

"Why don't you just run away or become a missing-nin, or something?" Iruka asked, feeling compassion for Kaede despite himself.

Kaede made a disgusted sound and said, "Because they'll snatch one of my little nephews as recompense for the broken contract. Besides, do you truly think I would damn one of my nephews to this existence? Well, the answer to that question is a big, fat, 'no'."

"I'm sorry Kaede," Iruka said, not knowing what else to say, because he voluntarily was a part of the shinobi system that Kaede so despised. He honestly couldn't say that he felt that his life had been so bad. He had been born into a shinobi family, in a shinobi hidden-village, and prepared for a shinobi life. It was only logical that he would become a shinobi, as well.

Kaede made an angry swipe at his eyes and said, "That's why I don't understand you. You have this golden opportunity to get out. No one is holding you back from becoming whatever you want to be, but you decided to stay. Even some Jounin saw and believed that you did enough for Konoha, and pointed out other options to you, but you keep dicking around with missions. One of these days, you aren't going to come back from a mission as whole as you left for it, then what are you going to do."

"I'll manage," Iruka stated.

Kaede shook his head at Iruka's naiveté. "Do you have any surviving family?"

"No."

"Then you can't know that 'you'll manage.' What if one of your injuries screws with your brain, and you turnout like one of those people who aren't all there in the head, like mental babies. What then? Who will take care of you?"

"I don't know, there –"

Kaede slashed his arm in the air, cutting off Iruka's excuse. Kaede turned around again, and said, "I have a family that will take care of me if I come back all chopped up but still living. By older brother owes me that, same with my sister, and they know it. They will do their duty, even if they don't love me like a brother any more. Besides, my crippled-self would be punishment enough for them to deal with. But you, you don't have anybody. Iruka, get out of this job, get out of this life as fast as you can while you are still whole."

"What about your teammate, Takara? Have you told her to quit?"

"Hell yes. Every time I see her."

"I see that she hasn't listened to you yet."

"You shouldn't sneer at what you don't understand. Takara was beaten and raped when she was 13 years old. No one in her village would marry her when she turned 16, so she joined the Academy."

Depressed by his thoughts, Iruka sighed tiredly, and wished he had just kept his mouth shut. Better to experience a three-hour awkward silence or Kaede's weird questions, than this conversation.

"What do you want me to say? You have an answer for everything," Iruka said.

"Yes, and you have an answer for nothing. Why are you a shinobi, Iruka? Why?"

Iruka shrugged and said, "Because everyone around me was one or had been one when I was growing up. So I became one too."

"That's it. You put no thought into your future beyond the 'everyone else is one' line. How pathetic."

"Shut up."

"Yeah, I think I will. You depress me Iruka."

Iruka growled and vindictively denied Kaede any further conversation. Instead, he watched the two unconscious men at his feet, as the movement of the wagon jostled them. He also thought about himself, his future and his past.

After the deaths of his teammates and the removal of his Jounin-sensei, Iruka had not had the benefit of a reliable source for further Genin training. As a consequence, Iruka's entire ninja career had been forced to adjust. Instead of becoming a Trap Specialist, as he and his parents had always assumed would be his career path, he had been forced to become a versatile chameleon shinobi – someone capable of filling almost any role needed within the typical four-man-cell. Hence, Iruka had to learn to become useful and he had to learn to become likable, which meant, he held no specialization in any certain set skills within the shinobi field. Therefore, Iruka was obliged to learn how to seamlessly blend into an existing team's dynamics, both to survive the mission and to become as much of a team-asset as was possible.

Despite his lack of advanced training, Iruka knew that he had managed to grow up into an effective shinobi. He also knew that with time, he would work his way into the Jounin rank. He would then be able to take on Genin students who would only benefit from his wide range of abilities. He wouldn't become like one of those senseis that overly specialized and ended up having to shove students off onto other instructors for basic training.

Then again, Academy students could benefit from his skills as well. The Jounin, Itō Shiro, had been right about that point. Also, if he became an instructor now, instead of waiting until he made Jounin, he would receive teaching experience and that would only help him in the future, when he finally became a Jounin-sensei.

Iruka then critically considered his lack of guidance from a permanent Jounin-sensei, during his formative years. There was so much that he had missed and, even now, he was still finding holes in his knowledge. Just three weeks ago, he had been on an escort mission. Everyone had been running low on water and it had come to the point that he thought the lack of water was going to be a problem.

Before anyone within the cavalcade could start to complain, a kunoichi had calmly walked over to a lush tree. The kunoichi's hands performed a few hand-seals, which resulted in her chakra diving straight into the ground. Within seconds, water sprouted like a plant from the ground and she calmly refilled everyone's water bottle.

Iruka had stood there slack jawed, and, once she was done, he had begged her to teach him the technique. Although puzzled by his desire to learn a D-rank jutsu that every Genin learned from their Jounin, the woman complied. Now Iruka knew how to draw water from the ground, plants, and even the air. Without her, he still would be forced to carry all the water he needed, for a mission, upon his person.

_No,_ Iruka mentally consented. _I am not ready for Jounin-rank, and without a teacher, I might never be._

Iruka's eyes opened wide as he considered the last thought that had just flowed through his head. He needed a teacher, and Jounin Itō Shiro-san had informed him that they would train him to become an Academy Instructor. Academy Instructors were thoroughly drilled in the basics so that they could effectively teach their students. He, Iruka, was missing basic knowledge that kept prohibiting him from advancing in rank, ergo, if he became a teacher he would relearn the basics – the basics that he desperately needed.

Plus, with the initial training, he would receive the recognition of Konoha's top trainers. He would learn their names and become personally familiar with them. After a few years, maybe when he was 20, he would give up teaching, and rejoin the active shinobi force. The only difference would be that he had professional-trainers as networking contacts, which he could then use for his benefit. He had enough money to pay whatever fee the instructors demanded and, if all went well, he predicted that he could become a full Jounin by the time he was 23 years old.

Iruka smiled victoriously to himself. He was going to become a teacher. After he turned in his mission report, he would search for Itō Shiro. If he didn't find him today, there was always tomorrow. Shiro had said that he and the Genin were always training at the same field between the hours of 1200 and 1600.

Iruka sat back and looked over at Kaede once again. The man had been right. He should accept this opportunity and he would, just not for the reasons that Kaede expected. Iruka was by no means soft and he didn't particularly have a problem with killing people in the course of a mission. However, he did have a problem with being held back from advancement because some nameless administrative individual believed that one surviving Genin was not entitled to the right of being taught by his Jounin-sensei until Chuunin-rank was achieved.

'_Iruka-sensei,'_ he thought gleefully. Iruka's imagination continued the thought by placing him in front of a class of children ranging between the ages of 9 and 13. He could see himself, standing before the class, clipboard in hand, taking roll call. He could see himself tossing erasers at daydreaming students and sneaking up on others. Then he thought of the training that prepared the raw and violent shinobi for their new teaching positions and excitement began to grow in him.

Yes, he'd make Jounin in about six years, and then the specialty missions would start becoming available. As a Jounin he would have instructors nearly thrown at him, believing that if he already had risen so far within the ranks, what was to say that he couldn't achieve more for the glory of Konoha. There were Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, and Fuuinjutsu masters. There were also Taijutsu, Weapons, Kenjutsu, and Trap Specialists. Iruka was salivating he was so excited.

He just needed to be patient now. A few years as an Academy Instructor and then he would be back out in the field, gaining rank. Only a few more years, now, and he would surpass his father and mother. He would finally be on equal footing as Uchiha Itachi, Maito _Gai,_ and Hatake Kakashi. He would be a peer of Itō Shiro. Soon, very soon now, he would be one of them. He just needed to be patient.


	3. Chapter 3: Orientation Day

**Training a Shinobi of the Leaf**  
by Nee339

**Summary:** What set of circumstances would cause Umino Iruka to finally teach Naruto the shinobi arts from the very beginning?

**Warnings:** Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations. No pairings.

**Author's Note: **First off, I want to take time to thank the people who bothered to review my story. It is nice to read what everyone has to say. Anyway, some of those reviews had mentioned that there are not many action scenes in my story. What I have to say about that is simple this: Everyone has read the stories about how much training a person does to get stronger or the stories with the blow-by-blow fight scenes. This story isn't necessarily about those aspects of shinobi life. It deals with the unmentioned aspects that are mostly glossed over because people consider them boring or too hard to write about. So, yes, that means cussing, sex, rape, and just general brutality, when required.

Anyway, please let me know what you think of chapter three. Thanks.

**Last Edited:** July 11, 2012

* * *

**Chapter 3: Orientation Day**

Konohagakue no Sato's Academy campus was the only sanctioned educational facility allowed within the confines of the village, which permitted for the easy monitoring of both the civilian and shinobi population. The campus had twelve large buildings, each one dedicated to a specific educational institution, not unlike the universities found in the major metropolitan cities.

Outside classroom 7-143, Umino Iruka quietly waited for the first day of classes to begin. He was leaning against the wall and reading his course schedule. According to that little piece of paper, he was going to become very familiar with that classroom over the next six months. It had been reserved for the Training to Become a Sensei (TBS) program's long-term use.

Iruka was not alone in standing outside the classroom. There were fourteen other people in the hallway waiting for the same locked double-doors to open. Iruka adjusted his backpack as he scanned the faces of the people around him, and uneasily acknowledged the fact that he seemed to be significantly younger than the other shinobi present. They all appeared to be in their twenties or older.

'_Great,'_ Iruka thought derisively, as his dark-brown eyes continued to drift from face to face. _I always wondered what it would be like to be a prodigy. Maybe, here's my chance. _

As soon as the thought flew through his mind, Iruka flinched at his level of pessimism. He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, while forcefully thinking, _Positive! – Positive! I need to be positive. Come on, Iruka. – Think! – I can do this. Shiro wouldn't have written a recommendation letter if he hadn't thought I could be a good sensei. Be positive!_

With his eyes still closed, Iruka breathed deeply, hoping to force calmness and optimism into his thoughts. He was nervous. He had not been to school or taken part of any structured training since he had been 11 years old. He could not help but worry that he would make a fool out of himself and he was already mentally cringing away from that future embarrassment.

_I have to stop doing this to myself,_ Iruka thought, realizing that he was surely cheating himself out of a fair shot of becoming a sensei. He knew he was a decent shinobi; he had the mission reviews to prove it. He knew he was smart enough to succeed in this program, just as he knew that the Jounin, Itō Shiro, would not have steered him wrong in his counseling.

_I have a right to be here and I can do this. I just need to relax and believe in myself and I'll get through this. It's just like any other mission I have ever been on. See the objective, Iruka, devise a plan to get there, and execute. I've done this a thousand times already. I can do it again, _he thought and found that, when he opened his eyes, he felt better, as though he was ready to confront the training program head-on, despite his perceived disadvantages. However, Iruka hadn't expected that his first sight, upon opening his eyes, would be a smirking, silver-haired shinobi who obviously had been delighting in Iruka's small display of anxiety.

In reaction to the unknown shinobi's vindictive enjoyment of his nervousness, Iruka pulled his head high and stared challenging back at him. He held the other man's gaze for a count of three seconds before he aggressively bared his teeth. Iruka half-hoped the silver-haired shinobi would charge him, giving him a reason to vent some of his anxious energy, but, the other shinobi stayed where he was, leaning against the wall and grinning at him.

Iruka maintained his sneer until a male shinobi, standing to his left, said softly and decisively, "Not here, not now."

Iruka responded immediately to the older man's tone of authority and he stepped out of the middle of the hallway. He took a deep breath, consciously forcing himself to relax back against the wall. Once he was sure that he had released most of his feelings of aggression towards the smirking shinobi, he felt comfortable in glancing over at his momentary opponent. Iruka saw that the silver-haired shinobi had also lowered his eyes, thus signaling the end to any possible violence in the hallway.

Iruka knew it had been stupid to almost get caught up in a fight right before the start of training. He was there to make a positive impression as a capable and responsible shinobi, not one of a troublemaker. Sighing at his own thoughtlessness, Iruka checked his wristwatch and noticed that, although the time had crept closer to the start of class at 0900, there were still a few minutes left to go. Relaxing against the wall, Iruka watched as more and more people joined them in their vigil.

Iruka was mildly surprised at the crowd the class was accumulating. He had expected that this training program would be mostly deserted. He had believed that most people viewed TBS as a program that lead to the dead-end career of becoming an Academy instructor. He had consented with Itō Shiro's plan only because he had presumed that TBS was nothing more than a curriculum of intensive basic training, with a side course on teaching and, now, looking at the growing crowd, he was fairly certain that he had been wrong in his assumptions.

With a quick swipe of his eyes, up and down the hallway, he noted that the original number of fifteen waiting shinobi had more than tripled during the time he had been standing there. Yes, there was definitely something about this program that he didn't understand and a sense of eager curiosity settled over his thoughts, partially blanketing his anxiety.

Glancing down at his wristwatch, Iruka saw that he had a minute remaining before class started. He pushed himself away from the wall and stood up straight. He was not going to be caught slouching on the first day.

Iruka quickly straightened his clothing and made sure that his long-sleeved navy-blue uniform shirt was properly tucked into his pants. He adjusted his utility belt so that his canteen hung at his left hipbone with its weight counterbalanced by his shuriken and senbon pouch, resting over his right buttock. He also carried a sheathed kodachi to the left of his canteen and, at the small of his back; he had a pouch for kunai, of various sizes; some with specialty explosive notes already attached. On his right side, he had another hard container; only, this one was used for emergency medical supplies. He never went anywhere shinobi-related without being fully armed, first. He even had various other weapons and tools sealed away, inside the scrolls he carried in his forest-green flak vest and even more stored in his apartment.

Another bout of self-consciousness hit him, causing him to quickly glance around at the other waiting shinobi, this time, taking a swift survey of the equipment each of them carried. He was relieved to notice that the majority of them were equally as armed as he was, with the only exceptions being a woman down the hall and a few administrative types that Iruka wasn't convinced were shinobi at all. Their bodies were too stringy; with no real muscle mass to them. They also moved awkwardly, as if they were having second thoughts about joining TBS.

Exactly on the hour, the classroom door opened from the inside. Iruka momentarily saw a man, of middling height, standing in the doorway before he moved to the side to allow the students to file past him. Iruka merged with the throng and walked inside.

Once on the other side of the portal, Iruka immediately noticed the group, comprised of a woman and four men, standing around a lecture podium. They were quietly talking amongst themselves while they watched the students walk up the steps to find a chair in the auditorium-style seating. It was a large lecture-hall with enough seats for about three hundred people. Iruka wondered if the fifty-plus student count was going to grow even more, before the start of class. He privately hoped not.

He then walked up the ramp until he located the eleventh row from the front of the classroom, and sat in the middle, so that he was directly aligned with the chalkboard. There were students already sitting behind him, to either side of him, and below him. He had chosen this seat specifically for its placement amongst the scattered students. He hoped that he would not be noticed today. He wanted this observational opportunity to be unsullied by being made an example of for the class or for some other similar humiliation.

Iruka dropped his backpack, filled with school supplies, on the chair to the side of him and sat down, centering his attention on the five people still clustered around the podium. He also noticed a sixth person sitting behind a large wooden desk, strategically placed to watch both the entrance into the classroom and the raised auditorium seating.

The sixth person was also male. His shoulders were broad and his arms were liberally roped with muscle. The man's eyebrows were dark brown, while his hair was shot-through with gray and had been sheared into a neat crew-cut. The man was at least fifteen years older than the five other individuals standing around the podium, which lead Iruka to, therefore, assume that he was somehow in charge, if not the actual headman for the TBS program.

The man stood up from his desk and walked towards the podium, shooing the five loitering people out of his way. Since they immediately vacated the area and then lined up against the chalkboard, Iruka determined that those five shinobi probably were the man's assistants, which made sense when considering the size of the class.

At his thought about the class-size, Iruka subsequently scanned the crowd of students. He saw the administrative types sitting in a cluster down in the front and the silver-haired shinobi sitting high and in the back of the theater. The rest were scattered with at least one to two seats between them and their nearest neighbor. Spread out like they were, it made the class look even larger than just sixty students, he wondered how many there were now. He also found himself wondering if the silver-haired shinobi could be related to Hatake Kakashi.

Iruka turned around in his seat and tried to mentally shake the thought away. Shiro had been right. His mind did seem to be unduly focused on the Copy-Nin. He needed to stop comparing himself to that man and find a more sensible role model. Iruka grinned and settled back into his seat, thinking, _Whatever will be, will be._

He then fully turned his attention to the lone man standing behind the podium. As Iruka watched him, he kept feeling as though the man was somehow familiar to him, like he had met him before. There was something about the way he moved his body and the way he slightly tilted his head to the side, when regarding the class that kept poking at Iruka's brain.

The man checked the clock at the front of the room and said, "Alright, it's eight minutes after the hour, go ahead and close the door. If there are any others out there, well, too bad. They should have been here on time, like everyone else."

One of the man's assistants jogged over to the door and closed and locked it. Iruka raised an eyebrow at that. Why would they be locked in? He found out a second later when a gasping shinobi could be heard running down the hall. He slammed into the door while attempting to turn the knob at the same time, only to find it locked. The assistant made an exaggerated frowning-face at the man through the door's long rectangular window, before waving him away. The late shinobi angrily delivered a hand-sign that, roughly translated, meant that the assistant was the get of a whore, a no-man's child – a bastard.

The assistant responded with a hand-sign that meant 'asshole,' before he pulled a shade over the window, blocking out any further communication.

The man standing behind the podium had been amused by the exchange between his assistant and the want-to-be-student on the other side of the door. He stood there, hands on either side of the stand, smiling sardonically at the fate of the shinobi who had been too late to join the rest of the class.

Previously, Iruka had been struck by the familiarity of the man's body language. Now, after hearing the man's voice ordering the locking of the classroom door, he was positively convinced that he had met that man before. He struggled to remember where, but his mind kept skirting the issue as though the memory either was uncomfortable, embarrassing, or dangerous.

Iruka felt jittery and stupid at the possibility that he had forgotten such a powerful shinobi as the head-instructor. He tried to put the idea out of his mind and he shifted in his seat, trying to focus. No matter the memory, the past could wait until the end of class time; especially, if the memory had remained hidden for so long. A few more hours would not make much of a difference, one way or the other.

The instructor was smiling when he said, "Hello class, I am Medic-nin Hiyama Yasuo and I am the Head Instructor for the Training to Be a Sensei program. Since the first day of class is called Orientation Day that means today is the absolute last day any of you can voluntarily drop from this program. Afterwards, only the other instructors and I will be determining whether or not you would make a worthy teacher for Konoha's students."

Iruka had to fight the inclination to cover his face with his hands in the vain hope that Hiyama would not recognize him. Oh, he definitely remembered him, now, and he blushed at the memory. Hopefully, the man would have been too busy that day to remember a recently orphaned young boy, but he couldn't be sure.

The day after the Yondaime Hokage had successfully sealed the Kyuubi into the body of a newborn, before the confirmation of the deaths of his father and brother, and after the complete destruction of his tiny family home, 10-year-old-Iruka had started his journey towards premature adulthood by standing outside the largest medical tent. As Iruka stood there, he noticed that his mind didn't seem to be working quite right. He couldn't seem to form a coherent plan of action, as he had been trained; so, he just stood and watched as the medics rushed from one wounded individual to another, attempting to save as many as they could.

Eventually, a Medic-nin, with short black hair, noticed a pale boy standing three meters away from the mouth of the busy medic tent. No one stopped to ask the boy what he wanted and the boy was treated as a stationary obstacle that one had to go around to reach the inside of the tent. The Medic-nin originally had intended to join up with a shinobi squad, tasked with looking for survivors still left out in the field, but he instead altered his path and approached the boy.

The Medic-nin placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, to get he his attention, and asked, "Son, are you hurt?"

Iruka tilted his head up to look at the medic, before shaking his head 'no' in response to the man's question. The Medic-nin frowned and moved his hand from the boy's shoulder up to his damp forehead, while his other hand felt for the pulse at the boy's limp wrist. Once found, the Medic-nin started to softly count while watching the dial on his wristwatch.

After a full minute had passed, the medic dropped the boy's wrist and tilted his face upwards, gently lifting the top eyelid of each of the boy's eyes, to check for pupil dilation. Because the boy's eyes were such a dark brown in color, the medic had to resort to using a small jutsu that made a light appear at the tip of his finger. He then waved his fingertip back and forth over the boy's eyes, watching the lack of response in his pupils. After his quick examination, the Medic-nin recognized the boy's symptoms and diagnosed him with shock.

Again the medic asked, "Are you injured?" and again, Iruka vacantly shook his head 'no.'

Not willing to trust the boy's answer, the medic quickly directed him a few steps off to the side of the tent's opening. Once satisfied that they were out of everyone's way, the Medic-nin clearly explained, "I believe you are suffering from shock and, to make sure that you are alright, I am going to check you for any injuries that you might not be aware of. Do you understand?"

Iruka nodded again and made no move to resist, as the Medic-nin quickly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off his shoulders. The medic then ran his hands over the boy's naked chest and down his arms, while he said, "Tell me if this hurts." It didn't, so Iruka said nothing. The medic then turned him around to check his back, and found nothing wrong besides coin-sized bruising from flying debris.

"Sit down," the medic said, and Iruka calmly sat in the mud. The medic knelt down beside him and began to unbuckle Iruka's pants. While he undressed the boy, the medic said, "My name is Hiyama Yasuo, what is yours?"

"Umino Iruka," he blankly answered.

"Nice to meet you. Wish it could have been under better circumstances," Medic-nin Hiyama said as he pulled Iruka's pants down, continuing his check for injuries. The medic was especially careful to leave the boy's underwear in place, to preserve a modicum of privacy. Although Iruka wasn't much concerned with what was happening to him now, he would be in a few days, after he had calmed down and had a chance to think about his experiences of the Kyuubi attack.

Hiyama checked for fractures down the boy's legs, as well as the boy's ankles and feet. He only saw more of the typical cuts and bruises that were prevalent on everyone's bodies. Before he dressed the boy again, Hiyama concentrated chakra to his hands and ran them over the boy's head, and over his body, arms, and legs, checking for internal injuries. The medic found nothing wrong with the boy before him, and he sighed in relief.

"Thank God," Hiyama whispered to himself, as he picked the boy up and dressed him; Iruka placidly letting the Medic-nin manipulate his body into his clothing.

Once Iruka was dressed again, Hiyama asked, "Were you looking for someone in the tent?"

Iruka nodded, and said, "My father and brother. They haven't returned yet."

The medic didn't immediately respond, as he turned his attention to the commotion of the tents behind him, and sighed at what he saw. There was so much blood and, due to the unsanitary conditions that they were forced to deal with, most people inside it would die from an infection within a day or two. If the boy's family wasn't in there and they hadn't contacted him by now, they were most likely already dead.

Sadly, Hiyama asked, "Did you check the survivors' list?"

"They weren't on it and the medic's won't let me into any of the tents to look for them."

"What are their names and ages?"

Iruka blinked, interest slowly coming back into the boy's expression. Hiyama was relieved to see the boy finally showing an emotion beyond the emptiness he had previously displayed.

Iruka said, "My brother is 13 and his name is Umino Takumi. My father is 41 and his name is Umino Kouhei."

Hiyama nodded and wrote the names down on a pad of paper that he always carried about his person and said, "Alright, I'll search for them inside the tents, but first, we need to put you somewhere you'll be safe. Come with me."

Iruka blinked, banishing the memories from his mind. He needed to focus, not reminisce about the time he had followed a young Medic-nin Hiyama to the orphan tents, where he would later spend the majority of his time, when he had not been studying for the Genin Exit Exam. Iruka needed the TBS program and he needed the respect of the Medic-nin if his plans for the future ever had a chance of coming to fruition.

Hiyama had just finished going through the attendance roll and handed the list of names off to one of his male assistants. Hiyama then smiled up at the class, while indicating the five shinobi, standing against the chalkboard.

"Behind me are my assistants who are here to help me teach this class. You will treat them with the same respect that you will treat me and, together, we will see what type of teacher you will become. So, learn their names and ask questions. They are here to help you and if you do not take advantage of that fact, then you will fail. It's that simple. Do you understand me?" asked Hiyama, his smile contrasting with the seriousness of the information he was imparting to them.

After receiving a response indicating that the class did understand his threat, Hiyama continued with his presentation. He said, "As I pointed out just a second ago, today is Orientation Day. For those of you who are unsure about continuing with the TBS program, then take advantage of this day and drop out. Today will be the only day to quit without receiving a demerit in your file. As you all know, if you acquire enough demerits, then it's off to see the mind healers while they try to figure out why you keep quitting and it may result in your loss of shinobi license. You have been warned.

"Now, moving on. Since it is the first day of the program, there will be no other classes scheduled after orientation. That means, for the next two hours, I am going to explain to you, what will be expected of you in TBS. Let me say this now, you _must_ meet all of the minimum requirements for this program, otherwise, you will fail. This is no joke people. If you fail, then you will have it recorded in your file and you will not be allowed to retake the program," Hiyama said, making Iruka nervous.

Iruka had not realized how serious TBS was turning out to be. He felt his body come down with nervous jitters, not unlike when his body was flying-high on adrenaline.

Hiyama nodded at the serious expressions of his students, and continued with his lecture, saying, "Now, let's get to business. TBS is a strenuous course that re-teaches shinobi basic skills, as well as the more advanced subjects. So, starting tomorrow, those of you who have decided to stay, will be put through assessment tests to see what you know. These will be the only tests in the program that you cannot fail, so you can relax about being graded. No matter your individual skill-level, TBS will still take you. Being dropped from the program has more to do with your personality than your skill-level. We can always turn you into a better shinobi, we cannot fix that you're an asshole. Anyone have any questions so far? Yes, in the back."

Iruka and the rest of the class turned in their seats in order to see the student with a question. It was a slim male, with sandy brown hair and a burn-scar around his mouth and down his neck.

"How can a person's skill-level not affect whether or not you accept them? Those guys down there don't look like they have ever held a kunai in their lives," said the burned man, referring to the administrative civilians clustered together in the front of the class.

Iruka smiled a bit meanly, feeling himself relaxing. No matter how bad he was as a shinobi, he was ten-times better than some civilian.

"Good question. As I said before, we can always turn a person into a decent shinobi, but we can't fix a person's attitude. Since everyone on the faculty at the Academy must be shinobi trained, the interested civilians have to make the switch. This is the program that they are directed to. Now, the civilians who have decided to join TBS will be held to the same standards as all others within this program, and everyone must show significant improvement throughout the six months we have you. In other words, the civilians' skills have no place to go, but up. The same cannot be said for a shinobi. So, you and the rest of the shinobi in this room will have to work extremely hard to match their progress."

The burned man looked agitated and said, "But that's not fair. Even after six months of training, I could easily take out any one of them."

Hiyama smiled, nodded at the point, and said, "Yes, that may be true, but are you as academically gifted as those men and women over there? I doubt it. Generally, shinobi within a village have been training since they were very young and only have peripherally learned other subjects, like languages, social studies, and the sciences. Now, those civilians have received full academic educations and only lack the shinobi skills required for this position. Plus, a shinobi-only-faculty at the Academy is mostly for traditional reasons; however, with this training, they will be allowed to wear the Chuunin uniform, thus blending in while they teach the children math and other soft subjects."

A small man with shiny black hair raised his hand and asked, "Then, what's the point of having shinobi train in TBS if you can recruit amongst the civilian academics?"

Hiyama smiled again and said, "Another good question. The answer is this: A true shinobi instructor teaching at the academy is priceless for the younger generation. A shinobi who has been out in the field knows when a child is ready to take the exit exam and when to hold him back. A civilian, even though they have gone through this training, are infamous for letting that training fall all out of practice and they are highly unreliable in judging the Geinin-hopefuls. However, training the civilians in shinobi skills is a part of this village's defenses. They are the back-ups of a back-up plan. In other words, should Konoha be engulfed in a war tomorrow and absolutely everyone must be on the walls to fight, then the civilians would be tasked with teaching the next generation, with only one or two trained shinobi to oversee the entire operation. They are useful, so they are trained. Anymore questions about this?"

No one spoke.

"Okay, moving on. Konohagakue no Sato is not like the other hidden villages. We do not twist our recruits or our children into monsters, and then set them loose on our enemies. Instead, our training program stresses responsibility, duty, hard work, and village pride. Through these measures, we hope to turn out successful and mentally stable shinobi. Also, we do not press our Genin into attaining Chuunin rank early, like the other villages. We believe that a child should mature into their role of shinobi, and that might mean years of D and C rank missions or as little time as a month for an individual to be ready. Each person is different. Furthermore, we must always remember that a majority of these Genin are still children and are answerable to their parents. Many Genin are not allowed out of the village due to parent stipulation."

From the back of the room, a confused male voice said, "Wait, I thought Genin were always considered adults once they graduated from the Academy. Is this no longer true?"

Hiyama nodded along as the speaker spoke. He answered, "That's a good question, and the answer is complicated. There are a few problems with treating children, who have just graduated from the Academy, like responsible adults. They might have had the skills to pass the test for graduation, but that does not mean they are mentally able or ready to look after themselves like an adult. So, if a parent says that they don't want their child leaving the confines of the village, we generally listen to them. It is because of this lack of maturity and experience that we have all rookie-Genin work under Jounin-senseis until they become Chuunin. However, during times of war or if the child attains Chuunin-rank, then the wishes of the parents no longer matter. Upon graduation the child becomes ours to use as we wish."

Iruka raised his hand and voiced a question that had been building within him for the last couple of minutes. He asked, "What about orphans?"

"That's another good question. Orphans are a different class of child, altogether. Generally speaking, because of the tragedy of losing their parents and the requirements of looking after themselves, you will find that most orphans demonstrate a level of maturity and self-reliance that the other children lack. Therefore, orphans are viewed with a bit more respect. However, orphaned children are often overlooked when they are having problems with the coursework, because they lack the funds for private tutors and the parental-power to see to their needs. If you become a teacher at the Academy, you will be dealing with many, many, orphans. You will have to learn to become empathetic to their needs, because, as children, they often do not have the vocabulary to ask for help. Also, you will become the most prominent adult figure in their lives and it will become your duty to guide them on their way to becoming strong shinobi and respectable adults.

"Now, if you all could hold your questions, I have a lot of ground to cover before you all leave here today. Good, my second point, before we digressed, is that there are no such things as prodigies."

A murmur rose from the classroom as the students gave voice to their general disagreement to Hiyama-sensei's statement. Hiyama seemed to enjoy their discontent. He was smiling as he waved the students to silence and continued with the lesson.

"Yes, yes, I know that every one of you has some story of some person that is considered a genius, bla, bla, bla. Well, I say to those people, they don't have a fucking clue about what it actually means to be a genius and they are just labeling children with titles that the kids have no hope of maintaining throughout their careers. I have seen and taught hundreds of children and adults in my career. Many of them, I can say, were better fighters than others or had some special gift that gave them an advantage over their opponents. However, during my career, I have also seen every so-called-prodigy beaten, at least once, by someone else. You must all understand, that on any given day at any given time, anyone can beat anyone else. A lot that goes into winning a match is comprised of luck. Should someone slip at an inconvenient moment, be a bit congested so they have trouble breathing, the sun was too bright and got in their eyes, etcetera, then the supposed lesser-shinobi wins.

"I bring this up because, during your time as teachers, you will deal with many children that come to you laden with rumors of being a prodigy. But all of those rumors are commonly started by the child's family and are often political in nature. A prime example of this that everyone here probably already knows about is Uchiha Itachi. Had the Uchihas kept their mouths shut about Itachi, no one would care about some boy in the process of tryouts for ANBU. Because the Uchihas predominantly work in law enforcement, covering both the village and the shinobi grounds, everyone has heard about Itachi and everyone is in awe of a boy so young possibly gaining a highly competitive ANBU slot.

"Now, one must consider the reasons why a family would want to put their children in such a dangerous situation. ANBU receives the heaviest personnel losses every year. Why should a family want that for their 12-year-old-son, especially, when this 'prodigy' has not yet had the opportunity of producing children of his own, who would potentially acquire all of his genetic gifts? Does anyone have an answer to that?"

No one spoke, too caught up in Hiyama's argument to refute it.

"Well, I believe that the child was pushed into graduating and attaining his bloodline, early, not because of any special power or reasoning skills that the child had. If you want proof, take a look at his coursework from the academy. His work is good, but it reads like a regurgitated textbook. My position is this: Itachi is not a genius. He was an overly rehearsed academy student and he used the benefits of his bloodline to progress the rest of the way. Although Itachi is a good shinobi, he does not have any sense of drive of his own to continue to achieve within the field. It is proof that his early advancement is entirely from the pressure of his clan.

"Now, this behavior demonstrated by a clan is not unique to the Uchihas. Every clan within this village will or has tried to gain power with the rumor that they produce the most powerful children who grow up to be the most powerful shinobi. As a teacher, you must be aware of this political ploy and be able to withstand the draw of a genius-child. You must be able to distance yourself from their achievements and be able to see to the needs of rest of the class. A genius-child has the dazzling effect of overshadowing their classmates and, those within that child's class, suffer from lack of attention and, as a consequence, die more quickly from lack of proper training; thus, lending credence to the genius-claim when the genius-child outlives his classmates. Oh yes, another thing that you will often see is that most genius-children are male. Are there any questions?"

Cursing himself the whole time, Iruka raised his hand again and asked, "What about Hatake Kakashi? Is he not a genius? He did not have the benefits of a bloodline before graduating the academy."

Hiyama smiled and shook his head, and answered, "First off, there's always one exception to every rule. Even though I tell you that genius-children do not exist and are political myths, still, during the course of your career, you will come across children so clever or so gifted that they could be nothing but geniuses. As for Hatake Kakashi, the only son of Hatake Sakumo and the only surviving student of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, I don't know if he is one or not. He could be the product of severe coaching throughout his childhood or he could be the only legitimate genius I have ever met. However, his status is extremely difficult to judge, considering who his father and Jounin-sensei were. He is renowned for deflecting all possible analysis into the situation and refuses to cooperate with the medical staff about the working of his transplanted sharingan eye. So, I say again, who knows?

"However, what I said before about genius-children is true. Even if you get a student like Kakashi in your classroom, you still have to look beyond his promise as a shinobi and see the other children surrounding him. They need training just as much, if not more than the genius of your classroom and, as a sensei, you need to be able to give it. Are there any other questions?"

Hiyama nodded at the quiet classroom, accepting their silence as answer to his question. He then pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to his assistants. The assistants then started walking towards the students, passing a paper to each person. Hiyama watched all this for a moment and then said, "Since there are no questions, we are going to carry on. The paper that's being passed out, right now, is the course syllabus for TBS. Once everyone has a copy, there are a few things I want to go over before I let you all go for the day."

A moment later, Hiyama started to speak again. He said, "Alright, I want to direct your attention to the top of the page. As you can see, it says that all participants of TBS must move into the academy housing in order to receive the full benefit of the training. This is indisputable and set in stone. Starting tomorrow, everyone wanting to stay in the program will be moving into the Academy dormitory, two people per room."

The response was instantaneous. The entire class, as one, groaned and cursed aloud at the pronouncement of moving into the dorms. Hiyama smiled as he patiently waited for the class to quiet down. After a few seconds, the worst of the whispers had stopped and Hiyama started speaking, once again.

"Before any of you ask this question, I will go ahead and answer it. No, you cannot live off campus. Everyone must be moved into the dorms or they will be dropped from the program. I do not care what clan you hail from, how influential your family is, or how close to campus you already live. If you want to become a sensei for Konoha's hundreds of trainees, then this is what you have to do. Is that understood?"

The students all made noises in the affirmative. Hiyama nodded and continued, "That's good. You might not believe me now, but living on campus will make a lot of sense in just a moment. Okay, moving on, you will see a copy of the weekly schedule that you already received at registration. Now take a moment to reread it and you will see that, in TBS, there will be a lot of early mornings and late nights. This is the primary reason why we have you on campus. We have six months to turn you all into first-rate teachers. There just isn't any time to be hunting you down all over the village, because of a schedule change. So take note, in TBS, your time is mine. There will be no missions, no home visitations, no nothing, unless I schedule it."

Nobody spoke for a moment, letting the pronouncement sink in. Iruka didn't care where he lived, as long as it was out of the weather. His apartment was as bare as the day he had moved in. All of his equipment could be easily stored in a few storage scrolls and moved immediately. He wouldn't be surprised if he were the first one moved into the dorms.

"Alright now, I want to go over the weekly schedule. As you can see, the morning classes do not change. It is the afternoon classes that do. So real quick, so you all understand that early morning physical training, PT, starts at 0430. You are not to be late and you should come outfitted in workout gear. Do not bring weapons to PT. They will just slow you down and I will not allow you the time to go stash them back in your room.

"PT lasts, as you can see, for two hours. During those hours, we will have you running, working out with the weight machines, practicing your gymnastics, and anything else we can think of to improve your physical conditioning. After PT, at 0630, you will receive a fifteen-minute break, where you will eat a nutritionally sound meal. The assistants will make these for the first three weeks. Afterwards, you will be required to bring your own breakfast. If you deviate from the diet, well, you won't like what happens to you.

"Next, at 0645, you will work on chakra control exercises. Again, do not bring weapons to chakra control, unless otherwise stipulated by one of your instructors. Chakra control will also last for two hours. At 0845, there will be another fifteen-minute break. This will be the time when you will run back to the dorms, retrieve your weapons and bring them back. For the next four hours, you will be training in taijutsu and weapon handling. If you have specialized in a weapon and have received your mastery of it, then do not bring it to practice. Mastery level is the highest that can be taught in TBS. For more specific instruction, I can provide you with a list of names after you complete this program.

"At 1300, there will be a half-hour meal break in the commissary and then off to classes. Most of your classes will take place in this auditorium. The only exception will be when you are at the hospital learning medical jutsu. As a teacher, you must be capable of a few iryōjutsu; otherwise, you will not be allowed near Konoha's trainees. Primarily, our students are very young children playing with knives for the first time. There will be accidents, so you must be proficient in this area.

"Anyway, from 1330 to 1730, you won't need to bring weapons to those classes, either. Just bring the books and supplies to take notes with. At 1730, you will all meet back at the PT grounds, where there will be another hour-and-a-half of group exercises. At 1900, for one hour, is your last meal break for the day, so enjoy it. At 2000 everyone is expected to take a shower. It is a communal bathing room and there is enough room for all of you. There will be no fighting over specific showerheads. At 2045, everyone is expected to meet in the common room for study time. This will be the time where you will ask your classmates for help or ask your instructors, because they will be there with you. At 2200, it is lights out.

"Now, let me make this absolutely clear for all of you. At 2200, there will be a mandatory bed check. We will go to every room and make sure there is no one else hiding underneath the bed or in the closest or anywhere else you can think of, to stash a person. Also, there will be no sexual contact between you and your roommate and everyone will absolutely leave all female candidates alone. There will be no sexual favors swapped for tutoring or anything else you all can think of. You all have full use of your hands and that's the only comfort you are going to be receiving for the next six months, because I absolutely refuse to deal with lovers' quarrels while I am trying to teach you bunch of knuckleheads. Now, is that understood? Are there any questions?"

The silver-haired shinobi raised his hand and called out, "Yeah, I have a question."

"Okay, what is it?" Hiyama asked.

"You got us scheduled so tight, when the fuck am I supposed to take a shit, sir?" asked the silver-haired shinobi in a jocular tone.

No one laughed.

Iruka's eyes opened wide in surprise at the audacity of the silver-haired shinobi. He couldn't believe he had just asked that question and with so little respect for his sensei, too.

Hiyama-sensei did not seem to think the shinobi was funny, either. His ever-present smile had hardened into a severe look of disapproval. He asked, "What's your name, shinobi?"

"Touji Mizuki," he said, defensively, as if he was starting to realize his behavior had been unacceptable.

This belief was validated in the next instant when Hiyama said, "Well, Touji Mizuki, you are here on my sufferance, so learn respect for your superiors or you will be dropped from TBS. As for lavatory breaks, depending on the time of day, you might be allowed to relieve yourself. If your instructor tells you 'no,' then that's too bad. You'll either hold it or, in your words, you'll shit down your leg. Whatever's more comfortable for you."

Angrily, Mizuki said, "That's disgusting! Why would you want to do that to us? That makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Hiyama refuted. "For disrespectful piss-ants, such as yourself, then you will be made to suffer for your inability to control your mouth. For someone else, who knows how to talk to a superior, they will be told when it would be most appropriate to use the restroom. Understand?"

Mizuki apparently did, because he leaned back in his chair and did not say anything further.

"Alright, now that that's taken care of, we have one more bit of business before I let you all leave to pack your belongings or drop out of the program. If you look past the grading scale on that piece of paper, you will see that there is a paragraph about a three-month review. This is very important, so pay attention.

"When we are three months into the training, there will come a day that you are going to be asked what area you want to specialize in. Now, I am not talking about you wanting genjutsu versus taijutsu, or anything like that. No, what I am talking about is what type of teacher you wish to become. There are four types of teachers that TBS trains, and each one is just as important as the next, so know that now. I don't want to hear any bullshit about how teaching little 7 year olds isn't as prestigious as being a specialist that takes on apprentices.

"So, the four types of senseis that we train in TBS are as follows: Academy, Infiltration, Specialists, and Basic Training. The one that you all probably are most familiar with is the Academy Instructor. This position teaches basic ninja skills to the next generation. Most often, the students are very young, however, that does not mean that all academy instructors will only be teaching children. In fact, it is quite often that we get students from the farms or surrounding villages and they all are looking to become Konoha shinobi. That means that some of our academy students come to us much older than normal. You will note, we stop accepting students into the program if they are older than 25. If a student is older than 25, we will route them into one of the other training programs for best possible use of their services.

"The second most known program is the Specialist Trainer. This sounds like exactly what it is. A shinobi who has been trained through TBS and who also has a primary specialization that Konoha is in desperate need of. Medicine is one such program, Torture and Interrogation is another well-known program. As a Specialist Trainer, your student pool generally comes from the ranks of Genin or Chuunin. Very few Jounin want to receive anymore training, especially if it means giving up one to three years just to learn the material. The good thing about being a specialist instructor is that you will only have one to four students at a time. Although, due to the popularity of medical jutsu, the program has been turned into its own school, although, it is still technically categorized as a form of specialist training.

"The next one is infiltration. Almost no one has ever heard of this program and what it does is establish schools all over the world, as part of a spy network. Now, not all of Konoha's spies are sitting around in dojo's teaching little civilians how to punch dummies. No, we put our spies everywhere, but our schools just so happen to be gossip mills. Besides, you will be surprised where a teacher can get access. For example, a noble needs his son to be able to handle a sword without looking like a fool and cutting off his head, or the Daimyou needs someone to train his samurai."

The class laughed at this pronouncement and Hiyama and his assistants all shared in the joke. The civilians appeared a little lost, but they soon caught on, when Hiyama continued with his explanation, saying, "Yes that's right. The righteous and noble samurai are all trained in the use of their weapons by ninja, the scourge of the world. The possibilities for that branch are endless.

"Furthermore, the students that don't make the age cutoff for the academy or aren't skilled enough for specialization, end up here, in infiltration. This is because a true infiltration mission needs more than one man to be truly effective. So in infiltration, the students are taught how to be spies, and the teachers from TBS set up schools in designated cities or villages. Then, a few months after the school has been established, the students follow the teacher. Once there, they start accepting lessons at the school and making contacts, establishing a cover, and slowly they infiltrate whatever part of the society we want him to. So you see, the school also becomes a safe house, a checkpoint for the spies. It also provides a superior for the spy to report to, so that the information can get back to Konoha.

The man with a burn on his mouth raised his hand and Hiyama nodded at him to go ahead and ask his question. The burned man asked, "Why are you telling us about infiltration. Isn't that supposed to be a secret and only for those who need to know?"

"Good point. Technically, you are correct. None of you in this room needs to know about infiltration or how it works; however, upon registration, you also signed a silence clause that states, if you spill village secrets, even to another Konoha shinobi, then you have sanctioned your own assassination. But, I have told you this information for the simple reason that secrets kept to close to the chest are often lost in times of war. If the Hokage is killed tomorrow, ANBU's wiped out from trying to protect the Hokage, and if the rest of the shinobi class doesn't know about infiltration and are too busy fighting in the war, then what happens to our spies? If everyone responsible for their safety is dead, who will be left as contacts for the spies at the schools? The answer is no one. So, in an effort to circumvent this eventuality, we tell every new TBS trainee, which means that every sensei in Konoha knows that, somewhere out in the world, there is a school with its batch of spies left hanging."

The burned man shook his head and said, "I still think that's foolhardy. You just spilled half of Konoha's spy network to a room full of people not even guaranteed to become teachers after these six-months are over. Any one of us can be a spy for another village, trying to learn Konoha's training techniques."

"Another good point, however, I have done no such thing. Try finding one school in a city. It doesn't even have to even deal with fighting. It could be anything, from flower arranging to dog grooming. We talk schools because it tends to be a business that offers some type of training, even if that's just training new employees to take a position. That's all part of infiltration. It just means that if a shinobi comes out of TBS, then they are more likely to be a spy handler than an actual spy. That's all. Plus, that's just one measly portion of the way Konoha gathers intelligence. If you want to really join the dark-side, consider joining Root. They are the major spies for Konoha.

"Anyway, is that clearer? Do you feel better about our village's security?" Hiyama asked. The burned man shrugged and leaned back into his chair.

"Okay, last category is called basic training. Basic training deals with troop movements, in other words, soldiers. Basic training often goes hand in hand with infiltration, but not always. So, when Konaha receives word from the Daimyou that we're going to war, this is were the basic trainers earn their money. They turn broken down farmers, laborers, and craftsmen into rank and file soldiers. They are also used for missions when a village complains about attacks from another village or from over the border. The basic trainer will go there and teach tactics and, if kept on retainer, will win that village's little war for them. Are there any questions about any of the four programs? We will be going over them more in depth, over the next six months."

Hiyama waited a few seconds, allowing the students to gather their thoughts. When no one had asked a question after ten seconds had passed, Hiyama continued with his lecture. He said, "Now, the last thing I need to explain to you is that, at your three-month-review, you will be taken aside by one of the instructors. Together, you will go over your progress through the first three months of the program and then, you will give your request for what type of sensei you would like to train for. The instructor might disagree with you and will say that you do not have the personality for working at the Academy but you would be great for basic training, or something like that. You are to take their opinions with great deal of weight, because they have helped me train many senseis in the last five years.

"Anyway, just because you say you want to work in infiltration at your three-month-interview, it does not guarantee you that position in the future. Your preference is only that, a preference. So, in the end, my assistants and I will be determining the best place to put you.

"And finally, because you have finished the TBS program that means you owe Konoha at least six years of service as a sensei. After those six years are up, you can rejoin regular rotation for missions or you can keep on teaching, whatever you may like. Now, if there are no questions, you may leave."

Iruka stood up, swinging his backpack over his right shoulder. He waited for the aisle to clear so that he could slip into the line, streaming out the door.

Checking his watch, he saw that it was only 1000. They had only been in class for an hour. He had a lot to do today before move-in tomorrow. He had his apartment to pack, clean, and he had his landlord to see about releasing him from his lease. Yes, he had a lot to do today.

* * *

**Author's Note:** For avid followers of the Naruto anime, you probably noticed that Mizuki did not act like Iruka's long-term friend. I did this deliberately. Although I wish that Iruka would receive more screen time in the anime or manga, I do not like those fill-in episodes with Mizuki. To me, they came off as ridiculous and unbelievable. So, in my story, Mizuki and Iruka are largely unfamiliar with each other until they are forced to work together in the same classroom.

Please let me know what you think. Your reviews are useful to me and often point out issues that I have not thought of. Thanks for reading and I hoped you like it.


	4. Chapter 4: The Three Month Review

**Training a Shinobi of the Leaf**  
by Nee339

**Summary:** What set of circumstances would cause Umino Iruka to finally teach Naruto the shinobi arts from the very beginning?

**Warnings:** Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations. No pairings.

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone. I have significantly changed this chapter and added another section towards the end. I recommend that you reread this chapter before continuing on with story. Like always, I am interested in what you all think, so please read and review. Thanks.

**Last Edited:** July 15, 2012

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Three Month Review**

Umino Iruka tiredly walked across the Academy campus's large green lawn, towards the morning meeting ground alongside the rest of the TBS candidates. Medic-nin Hiyama Yasuo's five assistant instructors had roused the trainees at 0330 that morning, for a twenty-mile run without the assistance of chakra, so that their muscles would receive the full benefit of the exercise. Two hours later, the stars were just beginning to disappear from the sky and everyone was still huffing and puffing, as they assembled into their assigned ranks.

At the beginning of training, there had been five ranks of sixteen candidates. Each rank was called a squad and, within each squad, were two teams that were comprised of eight individuals. Iruka had been assigned a position in squad-one, team-one, which hadn't changed throughout the last three months of training, despite the twenty-two candidates who had already been culled from their ranks.

After finding his customary place in line, Iruka allowed himself to collapse to the ground, feeling delightfully exhausted and a bit lightheaded. _God bless endorphins,_ Iruka thought giddily, as slowly started to stretch out his legs, feeling as though they were made of rubber. His entire body felt loose and his chest still burned from the effort of the run. It was a good thing that they had finally stopped when they did, because he didn't think he'd have been able to keep up for much longer, without the soothing help of chakra coating his muscles.

Lying on his back, Iruka swung his left leg across his right thigh, stretching all the muscles from his calf up to his hamstring and butt. Softly, he counted to ten, holding the position, before letting his leg relax. He then raised his leg straight into the air and he reached up and pulled the appendage close to his body, until his shin was in line with his forehead. As he counted to ten in this new position, Iruka allowed his eyes to roam over the other the other stretching candidates, around him.

The candidates were all sprawled on the ground, in various stretching poses, steam rising off their bodies as sweat evaporated into the chilly morning air. He knew that, within the next few hours, the sun would chase the chill from the world, leaving behind the normal blanket of sticky humidity in the air, making all those active duty shinobi, who were stuck in long sleeves, protective jackets, and long pants, wish for the relief of a cool breeze or running water.

Fortunately, the candidates weren't dressed so insensibly. They were all wearing their physical training uniform, also known as their PT-gear. There was no deviation in the uniform for gender. Male or female, they all wore baggy, gray, gym-shorts that hung just above their knees, and gray T-shirts with a large forest-green depiction of Konoha's stylized leaf pattern on the front. On the back of the T-shirts, running across their shoulders and printed in large bold characters, were their family names, which allowed for easy reading and identification.

Iruka rolled his head to the right, looking past the prone forms of the other trainees to the taijutsu demonstration ring, sectioned off from the rest of the yard by thick wooden fence beams. It was one of the many places on the Academy grounds that the candidates spent their days.

In the beginning of the TBS program, Iruka had expected to spend most of his time in a classroom, listening to lectures or running teaching simulations. Instead, they were outside for the majority of the day, only coming inside when the heat of the day was at its zenith. While inside, the candidates learned about psychology, shinobi training tactics, proper nutrition, weapons and their uses, observation of strengths and weaknesses with the intent for improvement, and so on. The topics were different each day and Iruka was surprised to find that he found them interesting and engaging.

A bead of sweat rolled from the bridge of his nose to drop into his right eye. Blinking to clear his vision, Iruka focused his gaze behind the demonstration ring, looking at the first obstacle of the two-mile-long obstacle course, which had been specifically designed to tax everyone's physical fitness. Medic-nin Hiyama Yasuo-sensei had told them that, the only standing rule for running the course was that every obstacle had to be completed without the help of chakra. Yasuo had then explained that, during training, using chakra to help perform demanding physical maneuvers was nothing more than shinobi laziness and it did not display the skill of the shinobi but hindered him in the long run.

One bright and sunny day a few weeks ago, Hiyama-sensei had called the candidates together, a sheaf of papers was clenched tihtly in his hand. With the papers rolled up like a scroll, Hiyama-sensei swung his arm in a semi-circle around him and said, "Take a knee, we need to talk."

Feeling the oncoming of a lecture, Iruka and his classmates immediately complied with Hiyama-sensei's command. Once all sixty-three candidates were settled around him, Hiyama-sensei had then waggled the rolled-up papers in the air.

"Can any of you guess what I hold in my hand?" Hiyama asked, anger and frustration thick in his tone.

The candidates were quiet, except for one brave soul in the middle of the group. The candidate answered, "The next batch of eliminations, sir."

"Got it in one. Do any of you know why I am forcefully dropping these candidates from the program?"

None of the candidates dared to reply, sensing a trap of some sort. Iruka felt sick, easily imagining that his name was among those that were being kicked-out of the program today. If that were the case, he didn't know what he would do with himself. He just wanted to complete this program. He had learned so much from the instructors here that he no longer felt like some half-trained-liability. He felt more confident in himself as a consequence of the training and the program still had about four months left to go.

_Please, don't be me. God, please make it that my name's not on that list,_ prayed Iruka, as he watched Hiyama-sensei agitatedly pace before the group of kneeling students.

Hiyama said, "How many times do I have to tell you all that, during PT, chakra enhancement is forbidden? How many times have I told you if you can't keep up in exercises, to come see me, or one of the Assistant Instructors, and we would work out a remedial schedule so that you can catch up with the rest of the class? How many times have I said this, trainees? How many?"

Now that the verbal trap had been revealed, no one answered Hiyama-sensei's question. By their very lack of response, they forced the question to become rhetorical and a part of the teaching demonstration.

Unperturbed by their silence, Hiyama-sensei looked over at his five assistants and asked the question again. "How many times have I talked about remedial training, Assistant Anami?"

The Assistant Instructor stood up as straight and tall as he could and said, "As I recon, sir, you talked about remedial everyday since the beginning of the program."

Hiyama-sensei turned around to face the students again and said, vindicated, "You see, Assistant Instructor Anami Akira remembers. Why can't any of you? Do I need to ask another assistant to see if they remember similarly as Anami and I?"

Since the last question actually seemed to require a response, the candidates chorused, "No, sir."

Hiyama nodded and said, "Then why do I constantly have to tell you all, again and again, not to use chakra during PT? Can any of you answer that?"

Iruka looked around at the other candidates and felt anger burn in his belly. They were receiving being chewed out because some his classmates still insisted on using chakra, whereas he had stopped after the first day, when Hiyama-sensei had talked about it for the first time. He had taken it on faith that the Head Instructor had known what he was doing and had just gone along with the program. He had not thought of cheating since then. Now, he was in danger of expulsion from the program because of someone else's inability to follow a simple and, relatively, painless order. He just had to hope that the instructors already knew that he had been obeying the rules all along.

_Fucking figures,_ Iruka thought, heatedly.

Another candidate from the back decided to put forth an answer. He said, "Maybe because they're ashamed, sir. Chakra takes away the muscle burn and helps you do things that you normally can't do without it."

"Ah, an answer. Yes, candidate that is exactly why I think some of you kept using chakra despite my orders and offers of remedial. Well, let me tell you something: chakra usage, without expressed permission from an instructor, absolutely ends today; otherwise, those that I catch will be dropped from this program, with no hope of a second chance. You all are fucking adults and professional shinobi, and I will not allow this brazen lack of respect for my authority to continue. You will all fall in line, or you're out. Is that clear?" Hiyama-sensei asked, his tone growing more venomous the longer he spoke.

The candidates all nodded that they understood and, after a moment of tense silence, Hiyama-sensei started speaking again. He said, "Let me say that one more time, so that you all understand me. Hence forth, you will receive an immediate expulsion from the program and a demerit in your file, for the inability to follow orders, if the Assistant Instructors or I catch you using chakra enhancement techniques during training. Is that clear?"

Realizing that Hiyama-sensei required a verbal confirmation of his orders, the candidates all said, in unison, "Yes sir," and the Head Instructor, nodded, seemingly satisfied.

Hiyama-sensei folded across his chest, the role of white paper still easily visible in his hand, and said, in a consoling tone of voice, "It strikes me that the reason why you all kept disobeying my orders about chakra usage, might be due to not understanding why I gave the order in the first place. I had thought I had explained myself well enough the first time, but, maybe I didn't. If that was the case, you, as my students and future teachers of the next shinobi generation had a responsibility to inform me that you were still confused and I, as your teacher, had a responsibility to realize that you all needed further instruction. In this instance, we both failed in our responsibilities.

"Well, let me no loner be derelict in my duty, so that, in the future, we won't have any more misunderstandings. As a Medic-nin and a sensei, if there is one thing that I can engrave in your minds from this program, it is that your body is the greatest weapon you'll ever have in your arsenal. If you don't take care of it with proper nutrition and exercise, it can also become your largest liability. Training is more than learning new jutsus. It is also about body maintenance and that means doing marathon runs, climbing walls, lifting weights, and gymnastics, without coating your muscles in chakra. Too much of the benefit of the exercise is lost, when chakra is pumping hard through your body.

"Chakra takes away the lactic acid that causes muscle soreness, but that very same acid makes those muscles stronger. Chakra is supposed to help you enhance your abilities; it is not there to help you maintain the status quo. If your muscles are strong before chakra, then, when it's added to your movements, the effects you'll receive will be astronomical. Without a strong body you will not last long as a shinobi. Remember this, muscle first and then chakra. That's the way it has to go, otherwise, you're just fooling yourself about how strong you actually are, because chakra is an enhancement to your abilities. Do you all understand what I'm saying? Do I need to go get the physiology chart?"

Heads shook back and forth and a few candidates said, "No," to Hiyama-sensei's question.

Hiyama-sensei's body posture relaxed and he said, "Good. That's good. It seems that as soon as a person becomes a Genin and starts learning the advanced chakra control exercises, they no longer practice like they did as Academy students and that's why, I believe, we do not have more Jounins within Konoha. Anyway, that's another lesson for another day."

Hiyama-sensei then turned his attention to the papers in his hand and unrolled them. He said, "Unfortunately, we still have a small matter to attend to. When I call your name, you are to stand up and head towards the dormitory to pack your things. Before you leave the campus, you will have an opportunity to defend yourself to the Assistant Instructors and I and, depending on what you say, we might allow you to rejoin the program next year."

Iruka blinked away the memory and stood up from the wet grass. Once standing, he noticed the approach of Hiyama-senesi from the administrative building. Dressed in the typical shinobi uniform, complete with flak-vest, the Head Instructor walked across the lawn towards the formation of tired and stretching candidates.

Something was up. Normally the candidates didn't see Hiyama-sensei unless they were in the classroom, they were being yelled at, or there was an announcement of some kind. So far, the candidates hadn't done anything wrong, so Hiyama must have something to say to them. Iruka was interested now.

Coming to a stop in front of the five ranks of students, Hiyama smiled at their fatigued and irritated expressions. Ever since the 'no chakra' lecture, the candidates had become harder to wake-up in the mornings and this early morning run had been a nightmare to get started. It had taken the assistants a half hour of walking through the dorms, slamming open the doors, and calling for the candidates to 'fall-in,' before everyone was finally ready for warm up stretches and then the run that followed immediately afterwards.

For twenty miles, the Assistant Instructors had constantly increased the pace until everyone was in a full extension-run. With their lungs burning, sides aching, and legs about to fall off, no one was allowed to fall out of formation. The instructors pushed them forward until the very end an now, everyone was glad that it was over, and they all were enjoying that delicious feeling of tired rubbery limbs and the soothing high of endorphins.

"All right, on your feet and eyes forward," Hiyama said loudly, so that everyone could hear him.

When everyone was looking at him, Hiyama said, "Today marks the middle of the TBS program, which means that today is your third-month review. As you can see, your numbers have already fallen by one-third the original class size and I anticipate loosing another twenty to thirty students before the end of this program. But, there is still a chance that you all will prove me wrong, and I heartily invite you to do so. TBS is constantly in need of good people and I hope that, at the end of the next three months, I will be able to call you 'comrade.' Anyhow, to have made it this far into the program is an accomplishment to be proud of, so congratulations, all of you."

Hiyama then gestured for his assistants to stand alongside him. He said, "Due to the meetings today, I am going to call off the rest of today's training and class schedule. Instead, after a half hour meal break, you are all to meet back here and form-up, like normal. Then, you will go off with one of my assistants to a predetermined classroom and wait for your review. So, don't be nervous, just think of this day as a day off. Is that clear?"

The candidates responded with a cumulative, "Yes Sensei."

"Good. Then, we're going to make this real easy. Females, you all are with Deushi Miku," Hiyama said, gesturing to his lone female instructor. He then pointed at the first row of students and said, "Squad-one, you go with Shinko Naoki. Squad-two, you are with Anami Akira. Squad-three …"

While Hiyama-sensei continued to call out directions, Umino Iruka looked up at Shinko Naoki-sensei. He was a good-looking man, in his late twenties or possibly his early thirties. He wasn't particularly tall, but he had strong, broad shoulders and powerful arms. He also had a thick crop of black hair and dark brown eyes. All in all, Shinko was a stereotypical Konoha-nin.

After the squads had been sorted, as Hiyama-sensei had promised, they were released to the cafeteria for a meal break and, if one was quick about it, a shower and a change of clothes, as well. Deciding to risk being late for his review meeting in favor of being clean, Iruka rushed through his nutritionally balanced meal, shoveling his food into his mouth as fast as he could and only vaguely noticing that he was not the only one with his idea.

Done with breakfast within five minutes of entering the cafeteria, Iruka quick-walked around the tables, dumped his tray, and then ran towards the dorms. He didn't fancy the idea of sitting in a classroom, for who knew how long, without fresh clothes and something to entertain himself while he waited for his turn with Shinko-sensei.

Two minutes later, breathing hard, Iruka burst through the door into his dorm room. He quickly pulled out a clean pair of clothes and his shower supplies. He then stripped down to just his underwear, haphazardly tossing his physical training uniform onto his bed.

With just a towel wrapped around his waist, Iruka jogged, barefoot, down the hall towards the showers, dodging around his other male classmates who were similarly rushing around. He appropriated the first free showerhead he saw and twisted the nozzle into the 'on' position, steadfastly ignoring the activities of the other naked men around him.

Unconcerned by the initial cool temperature of the water, Iruka stepped under the spray and quickly soaped his body and rinsed. Once his hair and body were clean, he pulled out a razor and, craning to see himself in the large communal mirror, he suds his face and started shaving. As the razor scrapped down his skin, he used his left hand to follow in its path, his fingers feeling for any missed hairs.

When he was finished, he picked up his supplies and jogged back to his room, hurriedly getting dressed while studiously ignoring the presence of his silver-haired roommate, Touji Mizuki. Just before leaving the room, he snatched up the sealing scroll, containing a few fiction books, stashed it safely away in his forest-green flak vest, and ran down the hallway towards the exit.

As soon as he was outside the dormitory, he sprinted across the campus lawn towards the gathering area. His long legs ate up the ground and, less than a minute later, he was standing in his assigned spot in squad-one.

Still breathing fast, Iruka checked his wristwatch for the time, and smiled triumphantly when he saw that he still had three minutes before he would have been considered 'late' and forced to participate in late-night punishment-exercises.

After a few more deep breaths, his breathing had calmed to normal levels and he turned his attention to watch his classmates, as they continued to run in from the dorms and the cafeteria. It wasn't just the men who had decided to wash-up for the three-month review. He saw a few of the women coming back with their hair still wet, as well.

Once everyone had arrived, the candidates split off into their five groups and followed their assigned instructors. Shinko-sensei took Squad-one to a classroom inside building-seven. When everyone was seated, Shinko-sensei did a quick headcount and, nodding, wrote something on a piece of paper. As soon as he was done writing, he said, "Alright, we'll do these meetings in alphabetical order, so that means Iruka will be last."

"Fuck," Iruka snapped, irritated; causing a few of the men to laugh at his predicament. He ignored them and looked around, figuring that the meetings would take, at least, half an hour per person and that meant he was going to be sitting in that classroom for about four hours before his turn ever came around.

Amused, Shinko-sensei said, "Now, now, Iruka. It very easily could have been anyone else in your position. Anyway, here's how this is going to go: I am going to call your name, you go to the classroom across the hall, we talk for awhile about your progress and where best I think your future lies. After that you leave and have the rest of the day off. Come tomorrow morning, the fifty-eight candidates are going to split into four groups and start the specified training for each teaching division. Everyone understand?"

"Teaching division? What's that?" asked a man with damp reddish-brown hair.

"You have got to be kidding me! The four teaching divisions are Academy, Apprentice, Basic, and Infiltration. Do you all remember those? You should. We have been having classes about them for the last three months."

Everyone nodded and Shinko-sensei said, "Good. Alright, lets get started…"

* * *

Iruka was wrong. He wasn't required to wait the full four hours in the classroom. Instead, Shinko-sensei had taken pity upon everyone with a wait time that was more than one-hour long. Therefore, Iruka and a couple of the other candidates all received passes to leave, with the understanding that they had to be on time for their three-month reviews or suffer the consequences.

At that, Iruka had said, "Thank you," and immediately headed back to his dorm room. He kicked off his sandals and removed his utility belt, before plopping into his bed. Reaching over to his right, he set his alarm clock to wake him after a two-hour nap. Since he had no afternoon classes to prepare for, he felt sleeping was the best way to spend his time. Once situated comfortably on his bed, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

"Umino, wake your punk-ass up and turn off your alarm," exclaimed the familiar and irritated voice of his roommate.

Languidly, Iruka raised his hand and pressed the button to shut off the shrill beeping of his alarm. Sitting up in his bed and yawning, Iruka looked over at his roommate. The silver-haired shinobi was sitting on his neatly made bed and sneering at him.

_No change there, _Iruka thought as he shifted his attention to his wristwatch, confirming that he still had over an hour left before he had to meet up with Shinko-sensei.

As Iruka scratched both hands over the dark fuzz of his hair, in an attempt to wake himself up, he covertly eyed Mizuki. The other man was a few years older than him and a bit taller than him too. All in all, Iruka didn't consider him all that impressive of a ninja. He didn't have that feel of 'power' about him that some of the top-level shinobi always seemed to emit. Iruka noticed that Mizuki hadn't chosen to change his clothes after breakfast that morning, so he was still dressed in his PT grays.

Dismissing those thoughts from his mind, Iruka decided to be sociable and asked, "So, how'd your meeting go?"

Mizuki made a buzzing-spitting noise with his lips and said, "Oh that. It went fine. They said that my skills are really good and that, had I chosen to train on my own for another year, I could have become eligible for promotion to Jounin. Instead, I got scouted for this stupid detail and now I owe six years of service for the training. Seriously though, I don't think that this training was all that great, definitely not six years worth. I would much rather just pay a percentage of what I owe out of my mission-pay than work for them for the next six years, you know."

"Then why don't you quit?" asked Iruka, feeling like he asked his acquaintances that question quite a lot, lately.

"Oh, that's simple. I want to make it into ANBU or, maybe, make it into marksmen school. Anyway, both schools don't accept quitters. I got to finish if I want anyone to even look at my application. Get me? But, hell yeah, if nothing was riding on me completing this program I'd be back on the mission roster before the sunsets. Fuck, man! I wish I never spoke with that scout," Mizuki said, angrily slamming his hands down on his thighs, making a loud clapping sound against the naked flesh.

"Who scouted you and why?" Iruka asked, incredulous. He had spent a great deal of time with Mizuki since the start of the TBS program. As a consequence of their forced cohabitation, Iruka knew that, although Mizuki was a decent enough shinobi, he wasn't worth anyone's time to invite into TBS.

Mizuki ignored Iruka's tone and smugly answered, "Yeah, just some guy came around me and my buddy's sparing practice. I had my friend in a submission hold, right, and this guy says that I got a real pretty taijutsu technique and that I should teach. I told him that I don't want to teach no kids anything, especially, if they grow up to be better than me. That would really piss me off, you know. I mean, think about it – some brat that I taught, once upon a time, ends up killing me with the same skills that I taught him. That would royally suck, you know. Plus, I'm really good with throwing weapons. That's why I think I should, maybe, try my hand at marksmanship, after this teaching business is through."

"Okay," Iruka agreed, deciding it would be easier to just accept Mizuki's story than to try and argue against any bit of it. He'd seen Mizuki in taijutsu practice and, yes, he had real pretty technique, but, he was slow as shit. Plus, he had real problems concentrating on his chakra while fighting. He might have been able to throw a few weapons around accurately, but he was still painfully mediocre, maybe even more so than Iruka himself was.

Tactfully not saying what he was actually thinking, Iruka asked instead, "How did you end up in the TBS program if you didn't want to become a teacher? That's what TBS is mostly all about? What were you expecting if you didn't want to be a sensei?"

Mizuki shrugged disinterestedly, as if his aversion to teaching was just a small obstacle to his future plans. He explained, "The scout said that they had trainers, here, whose sole purpose was to make me a well-rounded shinobi, so that I could turn around and teach trainees and that not all trainees had to be kids. So, there I was, really good at taijutsu and weapons, decent at genjutsu, but I absolutely sucked at ninjutsu. I could never find a good enough trainer to help me with my ninjutsu and the ones that I did find, cost an arm and a leg to hire just for the day. I can't advance without ninjutsu capabilities and I can't receive higher paying missions without Jounin rank. So this guy says, 'we got dedicated senseis just waiting to teach you ninjutsu,' and I say, 'yeah, I'll give six years.' At least that way, I'm going somewhere and doing something, right. So, here I am."

Leaning back on his bed with his forearms bracing his weight, Mizuki smirked at Iruka, as if he had just gifted him with useful information.

Iruka didn't know what to say immediately after Mizuki stopped talking. He was tempted to just get up and leave early for his meeting, but it looked like he still had three-months left to deal with this man, so he decided to try, once more, to be nice.

Nodding as though he had rethought everything Mizuki had told him and that he believed it was a really interesting and beneficial story, Iruka said, "That's all great, but you still haven't told me yet what division you're in now."

Mizuki smiled at his response, apparently gratified to have his attention and said, "Infiltration. They said that I was aggressive enough that they believed that I wouldn't have a problem playing a traveling student, or something, and performing assassinations while I was in the city. Said that my lack of heavy-hitting, chakra-draining, flashy ninjutsu wouldn't be counted against me, since assassinating people is quiet work. After six years, they said I should have enough mission credit to my name that I would be promoted, no problem."

For a moment, Iruka sat there on his bed, stunned. During orientation day, he had listened to the initial descriptions of the four divisions and immediately had assumed that he would gear his TBS training towards infiltration, believing that infiltration performed extremely similar duties to that of the regular shinobi-service. He also had thought that it would be the easiest transition for him and that he'd be pretty good at it, too. He already had the people skills, so, he figured there wasn't much left to being a visible spy within a community.

Now, knowing that Mizuki was already destined for the infiltration division, Iruka felt anger and disappointment bubbling in his stomach. He had believed that dealing with Mizuki as his roommate for six months was bad enough, but he never wanted to share the same career path as the other man. He was arrogant, abrasive, and rude. He wanted to have nothing in common with the man and, if that meant giving up on his original plan, then so be it.

Instead of throwing a fit, as he most desperately wanted to do, Iruka slowly stood up from his bed and lied, saying, "Well, congratulations. I have to get going. My meeting is going to start soon." And then he walked out the door. It was a shame, though, because Iruka knew that he would have made a fucking great spy.

* * *

At the sound of a tentative knock on the classroom door, the Jounin, Shinko Naoki, looked up from the eight student files he had arranged on his desk in alphabetical order. "Come in, Candidate-Umino," he called out, and gathered his files together into a neat stack.

The door opened and, smiling pleasantly, Shinko-sensei directed Iruka to one of the hard plastic chairs in the middle of the room. The chairs had been positioned to face each other. He said, "Sit and we'll get this show on the road."

"Yes sir," Iruka said, as he chose one of the chairs and sat down. He watched as Shinko-sensei walked around his desk, carrying a yellow folder with Iruka's full name neatly printed on the front.

With the folder in hand, Shinko sat in the remaining chair, still smiling. After a brief awkward silence, Shinko said, "First off, before we get to really talking, I just wanted to say that it's been a pleasure working with you and that, despite all of the disadvantages you had coming into this program, you still managed to secure the eighteenth spot in the class."

Still disturbed by his conversation with Mizuki, Iruka didn't immediately understand what Shinko-sensei was saying to him. With a confused expression on his face, Iruka said, "What?"

Shinko-sensei's smile widened as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. He then opened the yellow folder across his lap and turned it around to show Iruka. He said, "As of right now, out of the fifty-eight remaining students within the program, you are ranked as the eighteenth best, all around, trainee. That means you are in the top fifty percent of your class or, if you want to be more specific, you are in the top thirty-five percent of your class. So, congratulations, and keep up the hard work."

Surprised, Iruka sat back in his chair. Although happy with the pronouncement of his class ranking, he still felt confused by how he had managed to achieve it, so he asked. "How's that possible? I'm average in just about everything."

Shinko nodded in agreement and then explained, "It's not the power of your techniques that's so impressive because, in that category, you're right, you're very average; but, there's more to you than chakra capacity and how you use it."

Iruka smiled and quickly looked away from Shinko-sensei, blushing a bit in pleasure at being complemented.

As if he hadn't noticed Iruka's response, Shinko-sensei continued speaking. He said, "As a ninja, you are extremely resourceful and most people find it very easy to get along with you, which makes you very useful, both as a teammate and as a future sensei. In TBS, class ranking isn't just about grades on your schoolwork or how you perform in exercises, though they are important and you are doing very well in those aspects of the program, as well. Mainly, we judge our candidates by a combination of their personality and their shinobi skills because, as the saying goes, we can always teach you to be a better shinobi, we can't fix that you're an –"

Iruka interrupted, saying, " – asshole, yeah I remember."

Shinko smiled, again, amused by the younger man's reaction to the class' frequently stated motto. "I'm glad to see that some of our teaching has stuck with you."

Scoffing, Iruka said, "It's impossible to forget when you hear it every minute of every day."

Shinko laughed appreciatively, as he leafed through the papers detailing Iruka's progress. After a moment of shared amusement between the two men, Shinko said, "Well anyway, you are the type of person this program looks for. You have the personality and you are in the process of gaining the required skills. At the end of the next three months, I foresee no problems with you moving right into active duty in any of the four divisions; however, according to your statistics, you are most suited for either the Academy or the Specialist divisions. Now the question is, which do you feel like teaching?"

Iruka was momentarily silent, as he thought about what he wanted to say and the best way to say it. He didn't want to end up sounding like he was complaining. Hoping that Shinko-sense would be able to divine his meaning, Iruka said, leadingly, "I did do some undercover work when I was younger."

Shinko lifted his eyes from the paperwork and studied the young man in front of him, his face as still and unreadable as stone. Apparently he had understood Iruka's intended question because he said, "Generally, Infiltration is reserved for men and women who don't mind donating years of their lives for one objective and you're a young man, Candidate-Umino. Are you really willing to give up all possible promotions to become a sleeper agent in some far off city and for as long as Konoha can safely keep you there? Now, before you answer that, you need to know that it is very possible that you could end up spending the rest of your life just performing duties related to passing on information and, for some, that means nothing more than maintaining carrier pigeons. Now, do you really want that? If you do, then yes, you most definitely can join the Infiltration Division, but, if you don't, then Academy and Specialist are your two best options."

Ashamed now, Iruka dropped his eyes to his hands and said nothing, thinking about his options. Shinko-sensei allowed him his silence, content to wait until Iruka was ready to speak again.

After a moment of watching Iruka pick nervously at his nails, Shinko-sensei sighed, resignedly, and said, "Teaching at the Academy is a prestigious position, Candidate-Umino. Please help me understand what your problem is. You knew for three months what your options would be and you had all that time to ask questions of your instructors."

Iruka took a breath and said, "Well, I originally wanted to work undercover, since the option was there and I'd done it before. The others, I just stopped thinking about."

Nodding, Shinko-sensei asked, "What do you think about it now that you know what Infiltration actually entails?"

Iruka shrugged and said, "I'm confused, mostly. My roommate, Touji Mizuki, just told me that he's going into Infiltration and that they suspect to use him as a traveling assassin and I know for a fact that I'm better than him in just about everything. So, why does he get Infiltration and I am being pushed towards the Academy?"

Shinko-sensei rolled his eyes and closed Iruka's file. "For the last three months, you shared a room with Candidate-Touji and you haven't killed him yet?"

Iruka smirked and said, "It wasn't so bad, as long as I didn't talk to him."

Shinko barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Three months of near silence, yeah well, whatever gets you through the day, more power to you."

Iruka leaned forward and said, "You've met Mizuki; you know what he's like. How did he get accepted into Infiltration? I don't understand. Why not me? I've never balked at performing a political assassination and I've always killed my target. I can do it again, no problem."

Leaning back in his chair and rolling his head back on his shoulders to look up at the ceiling, Shinko moaned in aggravation. He said, "Didn't we just go over this? Look kid, I'm going to tell you this, but it goes no farther than this room, agreed?"

Intrigued, Iruka immediately nodded his assent. Shinko-sensei took a deep breath and said, "Candidate-Touji should have been forcefully dropped at the very beginning of the program. The reason he was accepted into Infiltration was because it was the one division that routinely receives the most fatalities. He was placed there to kill him off, essentially."

Astonished, Iruka momentarily performed a credible impersonation of a gaping fish. He blinked his eyes in quick succession, as if he could blink away his surprise. Finally, he said, "But why not just drop him from the program, since you know he's not fit to serve? Why train him just to send him on a suicide mission?"

Shrugging, Shinko-sensei explained, "Candidate-Touji is a liability. At first, we thought he would make a good Academy instructor because he has nice taijutsu, he just doesn't have much power or speed, and we thought that he could be a good taijutsu sensei, for teaching the fundamentals. And he would have, too, if only his personality wasn't so damn abrasive. After three months of observation, we now know that he will never be able to get along with his students, no matter their ages. So that effectively cancels out three of the four divisions open to TBS candidates. It even partially closes off the Infiltration Division and, as he's already told you, we have compensated by telling him that he will perform as an assassin. Other than that, there's nothing more we can do. Candidate-Touji is an asshole and nothing can be done about it except to send him to a Yamanaka to be mentally altered, but he's not a good enough shinobi to go through all that effort."

Iruka had listened to Shinko-sensei's story as if he were listening to a mission briefing. He had even nodded at various points the older man had made during his explanation. When Shinko had finished speaking, Iruka commented, "You could have failed him earlier and none of this would have happened."

Shinko-sensei shook his head in the negative and explained, "The problem is that we believe Candidate-Touji's would spill village secrets in retaliation for being dropped from the program. It's a problem we brought upon ourselves, unfortunately. We recruited him right off the practice ground without any background information on him, first. This is what lack of preparation gets you."

Running a hand over his short hair, Iruka sighed and said, "You're right about Mizuki being a talker. I just never thought of him as a threat, before. Now that you point it out, I can see him as turning into an eventual problem."

Shinko-sensei nodded and asked, "Are you going to be alright, going back to that dorm room, with him still there?"

Iruka shrugged and said, "I have no problems with Mizuki's fate. He brought it upon himself. Although, I wouldn't mind getting a room for myself, now that so many people have left."

Shinko smiled, pleased, and said, "Good man, a new room can be arranged for you. All right now, back to your review. Do you still have questions about Infiltration? Do you still want to head into that program, even after everything we've talked about?"

Iruka shook his head in the negative and said, "No. It's lost its appeal, now. I want to continue to grow as a shinobi, not turn into a bird keeper or stagnate as some business owner in some city. But, I do have one question, though."

"What is it?"

"Which of the three remaining divisions do you think I am most suited for?"

"Okay, fair enough. The Academy and Specialist divisions are pretty much interchangeable. They differ mostly in how old and experienced the students are when you get them and the types problems they routinely cause, which you'll have to deal with, since it will be your job."

Confused, Iruka furrowed his brow and asked, "I don't understand. Daily problems?"

"Okay, for example, in the Academy, you will teach classes that range in size of ten to twenty students, depending on whether or not you are teaching a generalized or a specialized course. You also have to realize that, odds are, you will be teaching students who will be little more than babies. That means you'll have problems that pertain to small children, like wetting their pants and stuffing a pencil eraser up their nose."

Appalled, Iruka said, "That actually happens?"

Shinko laughed and said, "Yes. It will be quite common for you to carry around a pair of tweezers, to remove small objects from various body orifices, plus, you will always have a pair of 'emergency pants,' should any peeing accidents occur on school grounds and they will, believe me. And, because your students are such young children, you'll have to be ready to comfort and hug them when they hurt themselves. So, all in all, you'll probably have, at least, one kid crying in your class, everyday. Then, there are the parents who will, inevitably, have something to say about the fact that little Lee shouldn't have a busted lip, even though they know their kid is taking taijutsu classes."

"Oh fun," Iruka grumbled, causing Shinko-sensei to quirk a wry smile in response.

"As for Specialist training, well, most of your students will be teenagers and, since you are just a teenager yourself, it could possibly mean that you would be teaching people who are, roughly, about your age. Now, try to imagine that for a second, Candidate-Umino. Try to picture yourself attempting to teach a skill to other seventeen-year-olds and how they're likely to respond to you as their teacher. Not to mention, there will be other problems with teaching teenagers, such as, puberty, mood swings, romantic relationship issues, and how to deal with the death or deaths of their teammates. All of that, you have to be ready to handle, plus the fact that your students will still be active shinobi and you'll have to schedule their lessons around their missions.

"Although, the upside to joining the Specialist Division is that you get to pick and choose your students. And, if those students refuse to measure up to the required standards, to achieve the specialist rank, then you get to drop them from your class, which is nice, considering Specialist is the only division that provides you with that option.

"Despite the problems of the first two divisions, I definitely don't think Basic will be a good fit for you. You'll experience many of the same problems as a Specialist trainer, only your class size will have grown from four students to about a hundred students; maybe, even more than a hundred. Anyway, you'll be teaching men how to fight and win battles and, because you are so young, when they look at you, they'll see you as a representative for their sons, nephews, and neighbors. Which means that they either won't take you seriously or they'll constantly try to protect you. So, if Basic interests you, I suggest you wait until you are at least 25 years old, which would be well into your second term of service for TBS, that is, if you had decided to stick around.

"So, which one sounds the most appealing to you, Candidate? You can have your pick, just realize that I warned you and your choice can't be changed easily," Shinko said while openly grinning at Iruka.

"How do I get your job, sir?" Iruka asked in return, half trying to be irritating and, on the other hand, extremely serious.

The man laughed in enjoyment of the joke and answered, "To take my job from me, you'll need to have been a Jounin for two years, have trained at least one Genin team to completion; as well as, have had completed the TBS program and have performed the full six years of sensei service. All in all, Iruka, I'd have to say that you have a graduation, six years, a promotion, and a Genin team to go before you can have my job."

"Well shit," Iruka said, leaning back in his chair, a bit put out that becoming a TBS Assistant Instructor was so far out of his reach. Annoyed, Iruka scrubbed his callused hands over the fuzzy stubble of his black hair, before sighing in defeat. "Well, after everything that you said to me, I think I choose the Academy."

Pleased, Shinko smiled and said, "Good choice, young sir. I believe you shall enjoy your time with the little gippers. That's slang talk for GPP, just so ya know. It'll help you fit in better."

"Thank you, sensei, that's very kind of you. Although, if I start referring to the students as 'gippers,' only to later find out that what you told me is a load of crap, I'm coming back here to kick your ass. Fair warning."

Shinko laughed and said, "You haven't managed it yet, boy, so you can understand when I don't hold my breath while I wait for that ass whooping. I have better things to do with my time."


	5. Chapter 5: Understanding Nothing

**Training a Shinobi of the Leaf**  
by Nee339

**Summary:** What set of circumstances would cause Umino Iruka to finally teach Naruto the shinobi arts from the very beginning?

**Warnings:** Rated M for language, violence, and sexual situations. No pairings.

**Author's Note:** Sorry I have been away for so long. Working on a Mastery is a lot of work and it is difficult to find enough time to write. But no, this story has not been abandoned and I will update it as often as I am able.

Thanks for reading.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Understanding Nothing**

There were times in Umino Iruka's life when he felt so exceedingly proud of himself that it took all of his considerable self-discipline to contain his emotions and actions so that he would remain within the limits of proper shinobi behavior. Therefore, it was very admirable that Iruka was able to maintain his composure when staring at the listings for the TBS program's final class rankings, because it was the dearest wish of his heart to smile and dance down the hallway, laughing and cheering at the top of his lungs in the spirit of pure celebration.

Umino Iruka was ranked ninth out of a graduating class of thirty-three students. Furthermore, as the ninth best student of this year's class, he had also been personally selected to become the teaching assistant to the academy's renowned taijutsu instructor, Jounin Umehara Tarou-sensei. Finally, Iruka had been acknowledged as one of Konoha's quality shinobi.

Umehara-sensei had taught all the great shinobi for the last twenty years, with such names coming out of his classes like, Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai, Sarutobi Asuma, and all of the children from the large founding clans including the Inuzukas, the Naras, the Aburames, the Hyuugas, the Uchihas, and all the others he couldn't think of from right off the top of his head.

In fact, Umehara-sensei was so well respected that no child ever graduated from the Academy without first receiving Umehara's stamp of approval. In addition, no child was ever considered a genius, a prodigy, or gifted without first receiving the man's acknowledgement of their skill level. It had even been whispered that Uchiha Shisui's and Itachi's prodigy statuses had been faked and that it had upset Umehara so much that he had walked alone into the Uchiha compound and had demanded recompense from the clan-head.

Some shinobi, who swore up and down on their mothers' lives that they were witnesses of the event, said that there had been a fight between Umehara and all of the Uchiha men currently staying in the compound upon the time of the ultimatum. They said that no Uchiha could stand against Umehara and that he had only used a bō for a weapon. No taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu could touch him.

Another version of the story said that, in order to make good with the respected teacher, there was an immediate exhibition of Shisui's and Itachi's skills so that they might attain Umehara's approval. The ending to that rumor varied depending on who told it. Some said the boys were obviously geniuses, while others said that it was just another example of the Uchihas' lies coming to light.

Then the last rumor about Umehara and the Uchihas, which was actually the least credible of the lot, said that Umehara would no longer accept an Uchiha as a student and that they were now responsible for teaching their own children, given the fact that they obviously didn't need his help since they were already producing so many prodigies in every generation.

Of course, there were other rumors about Umehara, like how it was due to his teaching efforts alone that had managed to elevate the standard skill-set for the typical academy graduate. Apparently, before Umehara had started teaching twenty years ago, the quality of the Genin-hopefuls had been abysmal to the point that it was no wonder that, of the generation before the Yondaime Hokage, there had only been four well-known Konoha shinobi: Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Hatake Sakumo. Before that generation, there had only been Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had been taught by Senju Tobirama and Senju Hashirama.

Once Umehara began his career as a teacher, suddenly Konohagakure was able to become an uncontested shinobi super-power, with the ability to produce quality shinobi in a relatively short amount of time. Umehara was also considered to be one of the major reasons why Konoha hadn't been conquered immediately following the Kyuubi attack, because it had been his students and his training regime that had enabled Konoha's youth to carry the burden of missions and reconstruction.

The power of a good teacher was limitless.

And now, that man was going to be overseeing his first year as an academy instructor. Iruka didn't know what he had done to warrant such good fortune from the gods, but he knew for damn sure that he was going to capitalize on it, because Umehara-sensei was an absolutely fantastic start for his teaching career.

Giddily, Iruka checked his wristwatch and noted that he had an hour before the graduation ceremony began. Since he had no family or any close personal friends interested in the milestones of his life, Iruka had originally thought that he would just skip the ceremony and pack up and move out of his dorm-room. However, after seeing how well he had done, he changed his mind, because for once he had something to be proud of and he wanted to be there, when they announced his name and took his picture. Besides, if he attended, he'd have the opportunity to brag a little to his fellow graduates.

With a burst of speed and chakra, Iruka was out of the administrative building and sprinting to the academy dormitory. It was a lucky thing that, as a result of six months of training and strict diet control, he had put on 14 kilograms (30.8 lbs) of hard muscle that had forced him to purchase new Chuunin uniforms, including a new shinobi black dress uniform; otherwise, he'd be wholly unprepared for this sudden change of plans.

Upon entering his room, Iruka was immediately shucking his clothing and dashing naked to the showers. He washed and shaved himself in record time.

With a full thirty minutes still remaining before the graduation ceremony began, Iruka presented himself before the TBS head instructor, Medic-nin Hiyama Yasuo.

"Glad to see that you decided to make it, after all," Hiyama-sensei said in greeting.

Umino Iruka just smiled in response.

* * *

Two days after graduation, Umino Iruka had moved out of the dormitory and into one of the shinobi high-rise efficiency apartments. The move took less than ten minutes, since all he owned could be condensed into three storage scrolls.

The rest of the time was spent with Umehara Tarou-sensei, going over student files and curriculum plans for the upcoming Academy session that would start at the end of the week. The school year was broken up into 15-week-long trimesters, with a two-week break in between sessions. Although the children celebrated these breaks, they weren't actually for them but were instead for the Academy teachers, providing them with enough time to complete basic administrative tasks as well as review student performances and determine whether or not they were progressing as required or in need of remedial help.

The school week was long and involved. The children participating in the Genin Preparation Program (GPP) were welcomed through the Academy doors at 0600, where they started working on taijutsu. Umehara-sensei overlooked these classes, watching as the children moved through basic stretches, exercises, and kata forms in unison for the first forty-five minutes of class, before breaking off into their various year groups wherein they were instructed by a taijutsu teaching assistant for another hour and fifteen minutes.

At 0800, the children too young or not destined for the shinobi corp. (commonly referred to as a "soft child" or "soft student") arrived for school. During a normal soft child's day, they spent a total of nine hours at the academy, wherein they received an education in reading, writing, language, arithmetic, social studies, geography, history, health, science, and physical conditioning (reading, writing, and language was one class).

The children were grouped into classes of twenty to thirty students, organized by how many years they had attended the academy; therefore, it was a typical sight to have classes filled with mix-aged students. Each year-group was assigned to a sensei, called the Homeroom Sensei, whose main responsibility was to oversee the progress of the children under his care as well as to enforce good behavior. Since a majority of the students attending the academy were being trained to become shinobi, the existence of a homeroom sensei was deemed a necessity for the smooth operation of the school day.

Thus, while under the observant eyes of their homeroom sensei, the children were taught each of the nine soft subjects by visiting senseis. A visiting sensei was a man or women tasked with teaching one of the core subjects. In an effort to further restrict the movements of the children, the visiting senseis walked from homeroom to homeroom, teaching their subject, while the children stayed in place. This also allowed for the children to have a sense of classroom pride and identity, since they spent a majority of their education sitting amongst those same thirty individuals.

At 1700, the soft student's day came to an end. While they were packing up and heading home, the children in GPP started their warm-ups in preparation for their last class of the day that was three hours long.

From 1730 to 2030, the GPP academy students were taught shinobi-based subjects on a rotating schedule, with the entire three hours of class time being used for that day's subject. Therefore, the subjects of chakra manipulation, ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, weapons, hand seals, shinobi clothing, tools, and equipment were all taught by that year group's homeroom sensei.

Monday through Friday, this schedule was strictly observed, with no deviations. On the weekends, the children in the GPP program had to attend mandatory physical conditioning and practice sessions at the academy from 0800 to 1300. During this time, the students practiced their shinobi skills under the watchful and protective eye of their homeroom sensei, with further structured classes as needed.

All in all, the children of Konohagakure no Sato were in school for 60 to 80 hours per week, depending on which program they were currently enrolled. Most children switched from soft education to GPP by the time they were 7 or 8 years old, meaning they were eligible for the Genin Exit Exam by the time they were 10 years old.

In times of peace, like now, parental consent was required before a child could take the Genin Exit Exam. The current trend was for the parents to withhold their consent until the children were around 12 or 13 years old, believing that by that age, the children had attained the perfect balance of skill, size, and power, allowing for maximum chance of them surviving their rookie year.

However, in times of war or political unrest, a parent had no say in a child's readiness for active duty. Instead, it was left to the discretion of the homeroom sensei, seeing as he was the one adult most often in the child's company and in the best position to determine the child's readiness for active duty. To help expedite the children's training, the homeroom sensei was given as many teaching assistants as was needed.

All these thoughts rushed through Iruka's mind as he sat across from Umehara Tarou-sensei while they conversed about each child's strengths and weaknesses. The conversation had been going on for the last four hours, wherein student file after student file passed through his hands. Faces, names, and statistics were all starting to blend together until Iruka's head hurt and he desperately wanted to ask for a break so that he could make a cup of tea and eat a sandwich.

Sensing that Iruka had come to the end of his concentration, Umehara called a halt to their meeting. Sighing in relief, Iruka slouched in his chair and covered his eyes with his hands. The student profiles were dense with information and the font type was tiny and written in the confusing language-code that Konoha used for all of its official documents.

"Are you still happy that you chose to become a teacher, Umino-san?" Umehara-sensei asked, his voice thick with teasing sympathy.

Opening his eyes, Iruka watched as Umehara moved about the meeting room, and said, "Kind of. I needed a direction in my career and this is as good as any."

"That is very honest of you, Umino-san," Umehara said as he placed a plate of sushi rolls on the table by Iruka's elbow before filling a teapot with water.

Iruka looked away from Umehara-sensei, feeling as though he had unintentionally insulted the man. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that like how it sounded," he apologized.

Smiling, Umehara-sensei waved away the apology and said, "I did not ask you that question to receive a false answer. I am well aware that teaching is not perceived as a prestigious position for a young man, nowadays."

Reassured, Iruka looked back at Umehara-sensei as he positioned his hands into the tora hand sign and focused chakra. Iruka was struck again by how small Umehara actually was. The man had seemed so much larger in Iruka's memories, from when he had been an academy student, that it was shocking to realize that he was now taller than the taijutsu teacher.

Umehara breathed out steam from his nostrils and touched the side of the teapot. The focused chakra encompassed the vessel and, within a few seconds, steam was pouring out of the teapot's spout.

"The tea is ready," Umehara said, unnecessarily, as he brought the tea service to the table.

"I've never seen anyone do that before, sir," Iruka said.

In response, Umehara's black eyes crinkled at the edges with good humor, as he said, "I am an inpatient man. Better to have hot water now rather than five minutes from now."

Iruka smiled and, together, the two men ate their food and drank their tea in silence for several minutes. It was only the actions of Umehara-sensei neatly wiping his mouth with a napkin, before using the opposite side of the napkin to wipe the table that alerted Iruka to the fact that the other man was finished eating.

Umehara-sensei's black eyes caught Iruka's gaze and, with a slight gesture of his hand, indicated to Iruka to put down his food for a moment and pay attention. Iruka placed his food on the plate, licked his lips, and wiped his hand over his mouth, before nodding that he was ready for Umehara to begin speaking.

"Umino-san, before we call an end to today, there is one last student that we must discuss," Umehara said, seriously.

"Who is it? Should I be worried?" Iruka asked, partially in jest.

Umehara shook his head, and said, "I do not think so, but that is yet to be seen. Much depends upon how you react within the next couple minutes." Intrigued, Iruka straightened his spine and arched an eyebrow, inquiringly.

With his hands folded neatly in his lap, teacup resting on a napkin before him, Umehara-sensei said, gently, "When classes resume on Monday, you will be one of the teaching assistants for the GPP third year students. In that class is Konoha's 7-year-old-Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto."

Iruka's jaw dropped, taken completely by surprise.

Everyone knew that the Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi into a baby, but Iruka had never seen the host before, so concerned had he been with his own problems at that time, that the existence of a new Jinchuuriki was little more than a vague, but hated, imaginary figure in his mind. By the time he had been released from the orphan-tents and had graduated from the Academy, the baby Jinchuuriki had already been squirreled away, hidden from the very real threat of the shinboi populace rising against it in retaliation.

Now, confronted with the reality of such a creature becoming one of his students, Iruka didn't know what to do. He knew he wanted to kill it, but that thing had been kept alive for a reason. Then the Hokage had gone and created a whole host of laws protecting the damn thing that, should he ever move against it and was caught, he'd be swinging from a hangman's noose before the hour was out.

Not without pity, Umehara sat in silence, watching Iruka's reaction. After a moment, Umehara said, soothingly, "Breathe, Umino-kun. Find your center and calm your heart; find your breath. There is no reason to panic."

"No reason to panic?" Iruka incredulously repeated, his voice high and reedy. "How-how can they let that thing be around children?"

With a nonchalant shrug, Umehara said, "The Hokage wills it and so, the Jinchuuriki goes to school."

"That's insane!" Iruka snapped, his hand swiping through the air as he spoke. "At any moment, that thing could turn on us and kill someone. What are they thinking? It needs to be contained, not sent to school!"

Umehara smiled humorlessly and said, "Apparently, the Hokage disagrees."

Shaking is head in disgust and amazement at the perceived idiocy of his superiors, Iruka asked, "What are we going to do? Do you have a plan?"

Umehara's expression changed from one of sympathy to one of hard command, as he said, "There is nothing to do, Umino-kun. We shall do our duty and we will endeavor to teach the Jinchuuriki proper taijutsu and weapon control, as is expected of Academy Instructors. To do otherwise is to court the Hokage's anger and I, for one, do not wish to spend any time in an interrogator's cell."

Before the Chuunin could come up with any further protests, Umehara raised a hand, signaling his desire for Iruka's silence and said, "There is no choice in this, Umino-kun. Konoha cannot afford to ignore the existence of its potentially greatest weapon and, like it or not, that weapon needs to be taught and that is our responsibility. We do as we must, as we always have."

Sitting there, hunched over the table with his knuckles pressing hard against his abdomen, causing his nails to dig sharply into his palms, Iruka felt like he was going to be sick. The vessel was going to be in this class and he wasn't allowed to kill it or even to warn the children about what walked in their midst. This was a nightmare and he couldn't see any way out of it, unless he found a way to kill the creature before it killed him.

Iruka's eyes shifted back and forth, unseeing, as his mind raced through possible trap designs intended to kill the creature, but how did one stop a Jinchuuriki? Everything he had ever heard about the things was that they were neigh on indestructible and so god-awfully powerful that it was suicide to go against one.

To complicate matters, his mind kept flashing back to the caverns, beneath the Hokage Monument, during the Kyuubi's attack seven years ago. The sensory memories were so strong that he could still remember the smell from all those people jammed inside those caverns so tight that dozens of small children had been trampled and suffocated to death before the attack's end. He could still remember the claustrophobic, terror-filled cries that had erupted whenever the ground shook and the desperate, whispered, prayers to the gods for the cavern's ceilings to hold against the ferocity of the beast's constant attacks, and for the Hokage to please save them.

He remembered it all, because, he couldn't forget. He could never forget. No one could.

Forcefully, Iruka unclenched his hands and smoothed them over his eyes, trying to rub away the pounding headache beating behind his forehead.

Opening his eyes and looking directly into Umehara's, Iurka said, with finality, "I cannot teach that thing. I demand a reassignment."

Umehara Tarou-sensei was a small, slightly built man, with deep black eyes and shiny black hair, with only his temples going to gray. Normally, he was always unfailingly polite to everyone; with his kindness seeming more suited to the soft, academic subjects than to the brutal and often bloody classes of taijutsu and weapons. However, that kindness was gone from his expression as he regarded Iruka with distain, as he said, "Then I have made a mistake in requesting you for my assistant instead of taking someone else from your graduating class. I did not realize you were a coward."

Through clenched teeth, Iruka hissed, angrily, "You don't understand. The Kyuubi murdered my family. I don't want to teach it, I want to kill it. I don't care how powerful or useful it will be, I want it dead!"

"That is unfortunate," Umehara-sensei said.

Sensing a trap of some kind, Iruka asked, cautiously, "What do you mean?"

With steely resolve, Umehara-sensei coldly said, "That depends on you, Umino-san. If you persist with this desire to hurt Konoha's Jinchuuriki, then I will be forced to deal with you before you can cause any damage to the vessel. It is the Hokage's mandate that the vessel not be interfered with in any way. The Hokage believes that the Jinchuuriki is vital for Konoha's strength and future prosperity. As is my duty, I will see that Uzumaki-san is protected from all threats, from wherever they may come."

Sneering, Iruka said, "I haven't done anything, yet!"

Nodding, Umehara said, "Exactly. You haven't done anything, _yet_. However, by your own admission, you wish to do Uzumaki-san harm; possibly, even kill him. I cannot allow such a thing to happen. That alone is enough to have you arrested and interrogated about your intentions towards one of Konoha's most valuable assets."

"Yeah, well, that _valuable asset_ is going to get us killed," Iruka stated emphatically.

"That is not your concern," Umehara said, simply.

Incredulously, Iruka sat back forcefully in his chair and opened his arms wide and asked, "How can that not be my concern? It involves me, doesn't it?"

Umehara nodded gravely and said, "That might be true but, as a Chuunin shinobi of this village, you are expected to sacrifice your life for the greater good at anytime. Furthermore, by law, you are required to abide by the Hokage's will and, in this case, the Hokage desires for the Jinchuuriki to be taught. Should you die in the performance of your duty, then you will leave this world knowing that your spirit will find peace in the next, because you have died honorably and the village appreciates your sacrifice."

"That's such crap!" Iruka shouted. "I think that –"

Umehara slapped the table hard with the flat of his hand and said overtop Iurka's angry words, "You are not paid for your ideas on policies concerning the Jinchuuriki. That is not your place. Your place is as a teacher and thus you are expected to _teach_, no matter who your student is. The Hokage wants the Jinchuuriki taught and, as a teacher and as a shinobi of this village, you will teach him or there will be consequences. Just know that if you can't act like a proper shinobi of this village and lay aside your anger, then you will most likely be dead before the end of this week. Do you understand?"

"No! I don't," Iruka said disturbed.

Umehara sighed and said, with stressed patience in his tone, "All I ask from you, Umino-san, is for you to withhold your judgment until after you have met the host. I want you to divorce all of your previous feelings, concerning the Kyuubi, and look at the vessel as though he is a possible mark. Understand him, figure out his habits, his weaknesses, and his strengths, and so on. Until then, it is time for you to act like a professional and not like some spoiled, undisciplined, civilian. Are we clear?"

Iruka nodded his assent. Observation was something he could do. He didn't have to touch the thing, just watch it from afar. Maybe he would notice something that would bring the Hokage to execute it.

"Good," Umehara said and stood up, fastidiously brushing at the seat of his pants. As Iruka sat there thinking about the logistics of tracking and observing the Jinchuuriki, Umehara cleared the table. Before he left the conference room, he called Iruka's name to get his attention and said, "Take the rest of this week and observe Uzumaki Naruto. Learn to see what is actually there and realize the boy is more than a projection of your fears. Come back Monday morning and be ready to work with the third-year-class. After the class is over, we will discuss him again and see if your perceptions have changed."

"Yes sir," Iruka responded.

"Then, one last thing, Umino-san. Remember, the Jinchuuriki is never as alone as he seems. He is too valuable to be left to the whims of outside forces. If you attack him, you will die before Uzumaki-san is even aware that you were there."

"I won't attack him, sir. You have my word," Iruka said gravely.

Snorting in disbelief, Umehara turned and walked out of the room. As he left, his voice was audible as he said, "We will see how good your word is on Monday, won't we, Umino-san? If you're still alive, that is."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I wanted to take this time to write to you concerning the decisions of my story. A few reviewers have commented that there is too much back-story for Iruka. My response to these claims is that I respectfully disagree.

First off, Iruka has been listed as one of the two primary characters in this story; therefore, he deserves some screen time. Besides, in cannon, we know nearly nothing about Iruka's character or history, only that he had survived the Kyuubi's attack, he's a Chuunin, and he is a sensei at the Academy. In the few manga and anime scenes that Iruka is depicted, he comes across as a kind, but weak, shinobi, which is partially the reason why so many fanfiction authors are quick to label him as 'gay,' despite the fact that he reacted to Naruto's Oiroke no Jutsu in the pilot.

Since Iruka is perceived as a weak shinobi in cannon and in most fanfiction, it therefore becomes difficult for the reader to picture him as an authority figure for anyone, let alone Konoha's Jinchuuriki, without major power-ups or a strong history to justify and explain his decisions to the reader. I believe I have done that with the previous chapters and Naruto will be making more of an appearance from here on in.

Furthermore, this story is also an exploration behind the scenes of the Naruto manga. For instance, the reader needs to understand that Konoha has more shinobi in its forces than the 15 characters we constantly read about. The reader needs to understand the emotional and physical toll concerning the Kyuubi's attack and how the Hokage managed to guard an infant Jinchuuriki from a village of trained and bereaved killers. The reader needs to know what it was like for the children who had survived the Kyuubi attack, because that is the world Iruka grew up in. Readers need to understand Konoha's military response to suddenly having their forces decimated. And, possibly most importantly, the reader needs to understand the strengths and weaknesses behind using child-soldiers and why it was such a travesty that Naruto's education was so lacking from the very beginning.

Unfortunately, cannon doesn't provide any of this information and it is all undiscovered territory. Masashi Kishimoto is too involved in writing his linear story to worry about the background, and has therefore left it all up to the discretion of his readers. This story will try and provide viable explanations for various issues that I have noticed in the manga, while also following the plot line of Iruka teaching Naruto.

I hope that answers your concerns.


End file.
